Tell Me Why - Scandal Mellitz Fanfic
by Fan girl forTV522
Summary: Instead of Andrew finding Mellie after her suicide attempt, Fitz does. She is then in a coma and Fitz searches for answers. AU Melliz fanfic
1. Chapter 1

As Fitz was getting home he walked into his office. After a long day at work, he just wanted to sit back and relax. He was secretly hoping he wouldn't run into Mellie. They had been arguing more and more lately.

As he sat down, his foot hit something hard. He hadn't turned on the lights yet so he couldn't see what it was. Irritated, he kicked the thing harder. But when it barely budged he realized it was...warm?

Walking over to the side of the couch, he turned on the lamp. His heart dropped and he felt like he was gonna faint.

It was Mellie.

He froze for a moment, not knowing what to do next.

He lifted her body up, squeezing it as if it would bring life back in her. He wanted to burst into tears, but he knew he needed to take action. He put his fingers to her pulse.

She was still alive.

He grabbed a phone immediately, shakily dialing 911.

"This is a 911 operator what is your emergency?"

"Yes...its...its my wife...she's unconscious...and I'm not sure what to do...please...please help her!"

He started sobbing uncontrollably.

"Okay sir calm down, we're sending someone right now."

He kept holding her, hugging her near dead body, sobbing. He tried giving her mouth-to-mouth, but that didn't work. He whispered into her hair.

"It's gonna be fine Mels, you're...you're gonna be fine..."

It seemed like hours before the medics arrived. The rest was a messed blur.

The doctors.

The yells.

The crys that came out of Fitz mouth.

It was the middle of the night when the doctor walked out to talk to Fitz. He jolted up.

"Is she..."

"She's alive."

He smiled for a moment, but then frowned again.

"But?"

"She...she's in a coma that we aren't sure she'll wake up from."

He fell back in his seat, trying to will the world from spinning.

"There's something else too..."

"What?"

The doctor took a pause, speaking a little quieter.

"Putting all the pieces together Mr. Grant, your wife tried to kill herself."

He didn't even respond, he just stared at her, his eyes wide with shock. He planted his face in his hands.

"Could you...could you please leave me for a moment?"

She nodded her head, turning away.

His mind was racing. Why would she do this? What drove her to do this?

Or _who_ had drove her to do this?


	2. Chapter 2

Why? Why would she do this to herself?

Sure they were having problems but nothing that bad.

Why would she try to leave him and their _child_.

It's not like she had mental health issues.

Fitz's thoughts were finally interrupted by footsteps. It was his father, and...Cyrus? Big Jerry spoke first.

"We heard what happened, is she..."

Cyrus interrupted him.

"You know what is gonna happen if the press gets wind of this?"

Fitz glared at him fiercely before planting his fist in his jaw. As he fell back he grabbed his shirt collar.

"My wife is in their barely alive so if you don't shut up so help me..."

Jerry spoke sternly.

" _Fitzgerald._ "

He reluctantly let go of his shirt, but he stilled glared at him. Jerry sighed.

"So, before I was interrupted, how is she?"

He tried to keep it together, attempting to force out words.

"She...she might not...wake up.."

He started to break down at his own words, and Cyrus was smart enough to know to leave. Jerry looked at Fitz.

He was never that kind of father, but he hugged Fitz.

"I'm sure she'll wake up."

He awkwardly pulled out of the hug, sniffling. He took a deep breath in speaking quietly.

"They said she tried to kill herself."

He stared at his son with surprise.

"Mellie? Suicide?"

He nodded.

"I don't know why, I mean we were arguing about stuff..."

He wasn't totally comfortable talking to his father about his marital issues, so he cut himself off.

"What kinda stuff?"

He relunctly replied.

"Well...she was kinda distant, like she wouldn't even let me touch her without pulling away. And we were arguing how...well how she didn't like you anymore, and she...she just seemed so oddly stressed out and...I don't know she just seemed kinda scared of me, and you too I guess."

Jerry was lucky Fitz turned away or else he would've seen the look that went over his face.

 _Oh no._ Jerry thought to himself. He was smart, so he put the pieces together fast. He didn't think that one night back in Santa Barbara would cause this much harm. He thought she could just move on like he did. To him it was just a one night stand he could hardly remember.

 _Oh come on, who's says it has anything to do with you._

He swallowed casually, his voice slightly cracking in his nervousness.

"That's um...that's so strange."

Fitz looked into Mellie's hospital room, frowning again.

"What would I do without her?"

Now Jerry felt a little guilty.

"Without her, I can't live, I can't do anything without her. I _need_ her."

Now he felt _really_ guilty.

Fitz breathed in shakily, turning away from her room. His eyes watered again.

"She's the love of my life."


	3. Chapter 3

**Here comes a flashback!**

 **...**

 _He couldn't feel more lucky._

 _Yeah he had a run down apartment that was freezing all the time. Yeah he wasn't rich, well he had a filthy rich father but he had too much dignity to ask him for money. And maybe he didn't have a million friends to have parties with. But he had one person that made all those thoughts go away._

 _Mellie._

 _Out of all the things his obsessively controlling father forced him to do, marrying Mellie was the only thing that came out good. She was everything he had ever wanted in a woman; kind, smart and hard-working. Unlike his father, he didn't think her most notable feature was her beauty, though he told she was beautiful everyday. He had always noticed she was wonderfully good-looking, which was one of the main reasons his father believed Mellie would be a good match for his son; looks were all Big Jerry cared about in a woman. That and her blood, which is funny because he slept with secretaries and prostitutes._

 _Mellie's blood was as blue as the sky, which was another thing his father was dead set on finding in a women for Fitz. Her family's money ran all the way back to the early 19th century; old, southern, rich money. Big Jerry was raised as poor as poor can come, so that would explain his almost obsession with blue blood. So in Jerry's eyes, Mellie was perfect 'cause she was beautiful and blue-blooded. For Fitz though, he knew nothing about her, and looks and blood didn't matter that much to him so he wasn't very satisfied with being locked into a marriage with her._

 _Slowly, however, he got to know her better._

 _She was terrifically intelligent; after all she graduated best of her class at Yale. She was ambitious; she even said one day she would be the first female president. He wasn't a sexist dick like the kids he grew up with, so he thought the idea was marvelous; He had always wondered if he too would be president one day._

 _She was also one of the hardest working people he knew. She was the youngest in the law firm that she worked at. She was always working long hours. Yet again, she was also best in her class._

 _Most importantly, she was one of the warmest, most likeable people you could ever know. She lit up a party with her smile. She would sacrifice her happiness if it meant another person felt better. Even Big Jerry seemed to like her, which said something because he hated everyone._

 _After years, Fitz finally realized he wanted a family with this woman. She had never had sex before, but being a rich senator's son, he certainly had. He had promised to take things slow; he loved her too much to be rushing her. But on their fifth wedding anniversary, he got home early, preparing a nice dinner for the two of them._

 _He finally saw her cute bob pop through the door, and he rushed up to her, smiling._

 _"Happy anniversary Mels!"_

 _"Fitz, what's all this?"_

 _He turned to the candles he had lit, and the spectacular dinner he made. He smiled again as he took her hands, kissing her quickly on the forehead._

 _"A special something for the best of wives!"_

 _She blushed as she sat down, throwing her bag down._

 _"What did I do to deserve you?"_

 _"I was gonna say the same thing about you."_

" _You are so cheesy."_

 _They chuckled together as they sat down to eat dinner, happier than usual. Their conversation was even happier than usual. As the conversation got quieter, Mellie took a breath in. He was a tad concerned considering her face was now serious._

 _"Fitz?"_

 _"Yes?"_

 _"I wanna try."_

 _"Try what?"_

 _She nervously fluttered her eyes, taking his hand. As he looked into her eyes, he saw confidence fade slowly into them; now he was confused._

 _"Fitzgerald Grant, I love you more than anything in this world, and since the moment I met you, I knew you were something special. You have been more caring and loyal than any other man I have ever met. You've been patient, and you have listened like I'm the only person ever talking. I've been so scared to warm up to the idea… because I was always worried you'd….you'd leave me…. I was scared you'd leave like my dad did with my mom. But I'm not scared anymore. Now I'm sure. I see a long future with you. I see a family with you. I...I want to try and have a baby Fitz, with you, to make love to the only man I have and ever will love."_

 _He was shocked by her touching words, and they both had tears in their eyes. He got up and lifted her so she was standing, pulling her into a tight hug._

" _I am never going to leave you."_

 _He pulled out of the hug, looking into her crystal eyes, kissing her hands._

 _"I can't imagine having a family with anyone else. You are my everything. I have and never will care how long I wait, as long as in the end it's you that I'm spending the rest of my days with. I love you more than anything I can name in my head. I am only ready when you are."_

 _She reached up, kissing him on the lips. It was gentle, but more sincere than ever. She pushed their foreheads together._

 _"I'm ready to spend the rest of my life with you...I'm ready to start a family with you."_

 _She wrapped her arms around him, pulling him as close as possible. He walked slowly to their room, opening the door. He stopped._

 _"Are you sure?"_

 _She smiled, the same beautiful yet mischievous smile that lit up a whole room at once._

 _"More sure than ever."_

 _He pulled her to him. It wasn't the pleasure of the experience that he was waiting for. It was the new closeness that they would share, not to mention they were trying to create life. He promised he wouldn't be like his father, he would love his wife till the day she died. As he closed the door, he whispered into her hair._

 _"I love you Mels."_

 _She looked up at him._

 _"I love you too."_


	4. Chapter 4

He stared at her.

His wife.

The most gracious and beautiful woman he had ever met in his life.

The woman who had never done one bad thing in her whole life.

He didn't care if she inflicted this upon herself, she didn't deserve any of this. He began to think of the first time they made love, when they first tried to conceive a child. He said he loved her, and she said it back. They were just two kids in love, careless to the horrid world around them.

Their life before the Governors mansion, before _all_ of this.

He finally decided to walk into her hospital room, his whole body shaking. He smiled as he walked towards her, trying not to think of how he would probably never see her crystal eyes, or her beautiful smile ever again. He sat down next to her, staring at her face. It looked like she was sleeping, like she wasn't clinging for her life. She looked so peaceful, and even though she wasn't smiling, younger too. That was probably because for once, she wasn't stressing over something.

As odd as it was, the sound of her heartbeat on the monitor was surprisingly soothing. The sound reminded him there was still hope. In every heartbeat, it meant she was still there.

He took her hand in his, pressing it to her heart.

"You hear that, it's a heartbeat. _Your_ heartbeat. You're still here baby. I'm here too, I'm not leaving you alone. You're gonna be...okay."

He buried his head in her chest, whispering non-distinctly.

"Do...do you remember when...we first got married...and...and you tried to make me spaghetti, but you didn't know I was allergic to oregano, and when I ate it, I blew up like a ballon. You wouldn't stop apologizing. Or...or when you in labor, and...and you were trying to push the baby out...and...and I called you champ...for some reason you glared at me so hard..."

He started crying again, attempting to choke out more words.

"You're gonna wake up I swear...and when you do...we...we're gonna fix all of this... _we can fix this_. I'm...I'm so sorry. This is all my fault. I should have done something more."

Outside of the room, Jerry watched his son, trying to ignore the strange feeling inside him.

 _Guilt?_

Part of him knew this was his fault, the other part denied that. He ran through his thoughts, mostly making sure there was no possibly way that night in Santa Barabara would be connected.

'I mean, she wanted it, right? She knew exactly who I was and sat down with me anyway. Why else did she not answer when I asked her if she wanted me to stop? There's no way I forced that on her, I mean, nobody's ever said no to me. Even so, who says that night has to do with her being suicidal? She could have been depressed because of something else.'

He tried to think of those thoughts, but he was smart, he still knew how people worked. He wasn't stupid or oblivious, as much as he tried not to care about others feelings. She started acting sad and distant after that night. And despite being as drunk as drunk can be, he does remember the night clearly. He remembers her saying no when he grabbed her. He remembers that odd look of fear in her eyes. He remembers the feel of her body underneath him struggling to get him off. He remembers her screaming. He remembers how her eyes filled with tears. He remembers her just...staring into the air.

And now here she was, half-dead, and deep down he knew it was because of him.

But he had too much pride to feel bad for her, to actually take blame for something. He already had enough to deal with , why add to it with guilt for something he didn't even cause? If she cared so much, why did she agree to never mention that night again? It must have not mattered that much. He could just ignore that nagging feeling. Its not like he cared anyway. She chose this, everything. It's not like he told her to take her life.

The whore did this herself.

...

 **I actually like how this chapter came out because of the different halves contrasting each other. While the first half is about Fitz apologizing and saying Mellie did nothing wrong, the other half is about how Jerry denies all the guilt and responsibility he has and instead blames Mellie for everything. I kinda wanted to compare their characters, and this is probably my favorite chapter so far (I did really like the last chapter)**


	5. Chapter 5

As Fitz sat there holding Mellie's hand, Jerry watched the pair steadily from outside the hospital room.

'Fuck guilt.' He thought as he turned away. His thoughts were interrupted by rapid footsteps. He automatically recognized the figure in heels.

"How lovely, Mellie's mother is here."

Mellie's mother, Elizabeth Hampton, was a woman made of steel. She certainly gave Mellie her sass and her brains, because she was also an intelligent woman. She rarely let her emotions let go. So for Jerry, seeing her rushing up in tears was far more terrifying than usual. She grabbed Jerry's arm, shaking it violently.

"Where...how...how is my daughter? Is she..."

He pulled her arm off.

"Eliza, calm down. She's fine. She's just..."

He couldn't quite get the words out, especially with the unwanted guilt that was still consuming him. He thought about telling her to ask Fitz, but seeing him so peaceful holding Mellie's hand, he decided against this.

"She...she's...well... she's kind of in a...coma."

Watching her face drop didn't make the situation any better.

"I'm really sorry."

She turned her head away and tried to keep her composure as much as possible.

 _It's not your fault Jerry; it's not your fault._

As he reached out to comfort her, she slapped his arms away. She glared at him, attempting to distract from the tears running down her face.

"Don't Fitzgerald, just...don't."

He stepped back. He decided to turn back and leave; being near Mellie's half-dead body was just making things worse for him.

Elizabeth still sat there, by herself, her face in her hands.

It was then she realized she didn't even know why her own daughter was hospitalized. Well, at least she was there; her husband didn't even bother to show, not yet at least. She finally decided to go into the hospital room.

Her footsteps were silent, but Fitz jolted right up; his eyes were red and puffy from crying. Still, he smiled at his mother-in-law. She didn't look at him though; she just stared at her daughter's face. She then spoke out shakily.

"What...what happened?"

Fitz wasn't sure if he was ready to tell her yet. It was one thing telling everyone else, but this was her mother. Never less, he breathed in.

"I came home from work, and I turned on the light, that's...that's when I found her unconscious on the floor. I called 911, and when I asked the lady...she said she...had large amounts of Oxycodin in her system."

He didn't finish his sentence, and Eliza stretched her neck to bring her head closer to him.

"A..nd?"

He responded slowly, hiccupping on his tears.

"She..tried...to...overdose."

Just as she thought things couldn't get worse, he told her this.

Her own daughter tried to take her life?

"W..what? Why she's the happiest person I know, I raised her! It must be a mistake. Mellie's too good for all that."

He stood up, taking his hand out of Mellie's

"Lately, we've been having problems...but I didn't think things were that bad."

"Did you hurt her?"

"What? No!"

She looked at him with suspicion. She had never warmed up to Fitz, despite knowing his father. She always disliked how he soared through life careless as a bird. She told Mellie's father not to go through with setting her up with Fitz, but he thought it was a fine idea.

"Please leave."

"No."

"She's my daughter!"

"She's my wife!"

"Which means you'll respect her _mother_."

He reluctantly walked out the door, but only to the outside of the room.

Eliza walked up, bending down to kiss her forehead. It reminded of her of when she was a baby, and she would tuck her in. Or when she could read her stories, when she watched her, when she could...protect her. Before she discovered how the world was.

Now she was here in a hospital, after trying to commit suicide.

"Oh baby, tell me what I did wrong? I wish I were in your place so you wouldn't have to be."

How could the baby she pushed out be so depressed, so lonely, that she tried to take her life? I guess she wasn't a good enough mother.

I guess she didn't do her job.

...

 **I hope this doesn't seem like I'm cramming too many characters in. I'm just trying to add more characters so they can tell their point of view of Mellie (I might add Andrew too :3)**


	6. Chapter 6

**I'm gonna try to make the chapters longer**

 _It was Mellie's tenth birthday. Everything was just so. She had her cake and her presents and all her friends were there. But one thing wasn't right._

 _Her dad wasn't there._

 _Eliza remembers looking at Mellie standing on the window, looking out, constantly asking when dad was showing up. But Eliza knew the truth. He wasn't coming back. She wishes he was dead, that would make this so much easier. Explaining to a ten year old that her mother and dad had been fighting so bad that he left was way harder. Finally, Eliza took Mellie aside._

 _"How's your birthday going?"_

 _Mellie smiled, but didn't answer the question. Instead, she turned her head back to the window._

 _"Where's dad? He hasn't been here for over a week but I know he wouldn't miss my birthday."_

 _Tears filled Eliza's eyes, how was she gonna tell her? She took a deep breath, hugging her little girl._

 _"He's not coming back."_

 _"IS HE DEAD?"_

 _"No. He...he didn't want to be here with us anymore. He moved away with...someone else."_

 _Mellie's eyes flooded with tears._

 _"He's not coming b..back?"_

 _Eliza shook her head._

 _"I don't know."_

 _The heartbreaking sight of her daughter running away in tears was more then she could bear. She crumpled on the floor, sobbing._

 _"What do I do now?"_

 _..._

 _After that, Mellie had always tried to fill that hole her father left. She studied all the time, shooting for the best grades and not being very social. For Eliza, she knew this was sad; Mellie was a wonderfully charming young lady, and very beautiful. She thought Mellie would change, but she was wrong._

 _After Mellie got accepted into Yale, that's all she did._

 _Work. ._

 _She eventually graduated best of her class, all while completely ignoring the millions of guys that asked her out. Even after college, she didn't even think of dating. For her that was a distraction. Then one day things changed._

 _Eliza heard a knock on the door. Opening it, she was surprised at who it was._

 _"What do you want John?"_

 _Mellie's father._

 _He had shown up at things like Mellie's graduations, but he never came back to that house. What did he want now?_

 _"I'm good too, thanks for asking, I'm here about Melody."_

 _"You know she usually doesn't want to talk to you."_

 _He glared at her._

 _"I meant to talk about her. Well her future at least."_

 _Now Eliza was suspicious. John had never been invested in Mellie's future, or her well-being for that. Why was he now?_

 _"Go on."_

 _"Do you remember Jerry Grant from college?"_

 _"Yeah, I dated his best friend, Jim Wyatt. If can remember clearly, Jerry became a senator. What's this about?"_

 _"Well, me and Jim kept in contact, and apparently Mellie's been clerking for him. Him and Jerry are still friends, and I guess Jerry has a son a little older then Melody. He thinks it would be a great idea to set them up. And I agree."_

 _Eliza was quiet for a moment._

 _"I mean, one date couldn't be so bad."_

 _He chuckled, continuing._

 _"Well, maybe more than a date."_

 _She glared at him suspiciously._

 _"What do you mean?"_

 _"You don't find a boy like Fitzgerald every day. Smart, good-looking, charming, rich, and a good family legacy."_

 _"John, what do you mean?"_

 _"I believe they should get, you know, engaged ."_

 _Eliza's mouth shot open. She must have heard wrong. Engaged?_

 _"Look, I'm not in the mood for stupid ideas."_

 _"I'm serious."_

 _She stared at him for a couple seconds, until she got up, pacing the room._

 _"Are you insane? Do you realize how ridiculous that sounds?"_

 _"Think about it. With how ambitious Melody is, she'll never go out searching for a man. And I found one for her. Plus, I believe she'll be happy with that family. And she won't have a crazy mother-in-law!"_

 _"Still, don't you want her to be happy with someone she loves? Plus this is just crazy, to add that again."_

 _"Wouldn't this make her happy?"_

 _Eliza thought for a moment._

 _"I don't know...it just sounds so... wrong. And while Jerry was nice back in college, he changed a lot. I don't trust him with our daughter. And that Fitz boy sounds like the type who doesn't give a damn for working."_

" _Oh come on, what's the worst that could happen?"_

 _She froze for a moment, turning away from him._

 _"I asked myself the same thing when I married you, and look how that turned out."_

 _Momentarily stunned, he didn't speak. Finally, he cleared his throat._

 _"Well she's different. Think about it. All the benefits. How well this will work. Just say yes and the case is closed."_

 _She stuttered. She knew Mellie wouldn't like this. Then again, what if John was right? It's not like Mellie would ever consider looking for someone and she didn't want her to be lonely for the rest of her life._

 _"You really think Mellie would be happy?"_

 _He nodded his head. Maybe things wouldn't work out in the end, and this silly idea would be put to rest. She spoke, very unsure._

 _"Um...I guess she should go, but just to see! And don't talk about my daughter like she's a business deal."_

 _"Magnificent! I'll call Jim to pick her up. I have a meeting tonight. Good bye!"_

 _She closed the door after him. She called Mellie down._

 _"Melody dear, get ready, Jim Wyatt just called. He said he wanted to take you out for dinner to celebrate...uh...a big thing that happened at work."_

 _She looked confused._

 _"O...kay. I didn't hear about anything but I'll go get ready."_

 _She's smiled until Mellie was all the way up the stairs. After that she slipped onto the couch. How could she do this? She didn't trust her ex-husband, she hated him! And that Jerry Grant made her feel uneasy. Not to mention, what if her and Fitz Grant didn't like each other? She felt awful already._

 _She had just made the worse choice of her life._

 **In case you're wondering, I kinda am making these flashbacks in different characters point of view, but they're based around Mellie. Also I realized the male names in this chapter: Jerry, Jim, and John. What's with the J's?!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Guuuuuuuuuuuuuuess who's in this chapter!? :3**

Eliza walked out of the room slightly in a daze, surprised at who she ran into. It was Andrew Nichols, Fitz's lieutenant governor and good friend.

"Why Andy, whatever are you doing here?" She said, attempting to hide the fact she was crying.

He cringed slightly, disliking that's even though he was no longer a little boy, she still called him by his childhood name.

"I heard about what happened, and knew I needed to come."

She stood stunned for a few moments. How did he know? Then her mind finally came back to its logical state; him and Mellie had been friends since they were children. Good friends actually. His mother was a good friend of Eliza, so Mellie and Andrew bonded as kids. He was there through the thin and thick, so of course he would be here now.

She just nodded in response. She was still too shocked to speak. Suddenly, she started bursting into tears, crumpling into Andrew's arms.

"My...my baby tried to kill herself. She might not wake up! What am I gonna to without her...my...my baby!"

He patted her back gently, attempting to comfort her. But he himself felt his stomach drop. She won't walk up? Suicide? He wasn't sure if he could take this in.

"Just...just calm... calm down. Breathe. What do you mean by this?"

"She tried...to...overdose...on...Oxycodin..I...don't...know...why...but...she...might...not...wake...up."

For some reason now, this oddly made sense. For weeks he noticed she was depressed. He was her best friend after all, he would notice. He had tried to talk to her about it, but she just put on a smile he knew was fake and just, moved on. He knew she was hiding something. Part of him now felt guilty about not questioning her further.

He was surprised he hadn't broken down. But he knew Mellie would want him to be calm like he usually was, even though he just wanted to cry right now.

Finally, she pushed away, realizing she was showing more weakness than usual. He couldn't help but be amused by this; Mellie was just like her in that aspect. She cleared her throat.

"I should...I need to...um...go get some water."

He was happy that she left; he was on the verge of sobbing. He now let a few tears stream down, but made sure not to cry. He had to think positive. Mellie could wake up.

He looked around, making sure Fitz wasn't around. He knew Fitz always felt uncomfortable about Mellie and him being friends, but he still pretended to like him because Mellie cared so much for him.

He walked into Mellie's hospital room, sitting on her gurney, and lying down beside her. He reached out to touch her face, running his hand along it. Even in certain death, she was absolutely radiant. She had been since the moment he met her. He had always been so envious that Fitz was the only one that could touch her skin whenever. Or smell her scent. Or kiss her lips. Andrew loved her more than words could say, and some how she never knew. She loved him as a brother, so he knew he had to keep it like that. Especially because she loved Fitz so deeply. Maybe screwing that up a couple weeks ago wasn't such a good idea.

"Whatever he did to you, it doesn't mean you're worthless. You are the greatest thing in my life. And if anything, he doesn't deserve you. He doesn't care for you enough. So please, even though he doesn't think it, you are the most stunning gold on this earth."

He felt so wrong, but he had a strange temptation to kiss her. To feel comfort. In case he never got to see her breathing again. He placed his lips gently on her soft cheek, pressing his nose against her face.

"I love you Melody, say please, stay alive for me."

Stay alive.

Stay alive.

For me.

 **Yeah this chapter's short and I feel like it's a little bland, but hey the next flashback's gonna be good. So yeah tell me what y'all think about Andrew being her childhood friend. He is the last character I'm gonna add. I just wanted to add a lot of character so I can have a lot to write about. So we have the guilty husband, the heartless rapist, the desperate mother, and the rejected best friend. That's quite interested. Oh and in case you're wondering, Andrew is supposed to seem a bit not so likeable or out of place. I made it like this because it's supposed to connect to his personality in season 4 and 5. Fun fact, I saw the actor for Andrew in a lifetime movie, and it was pretty awesome.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Yo yo yo it's an Andrew flashback! There's also a little bit more into Mellie's past**

 _Eliza felt terribly lonely. Her husband had left her for some trailer park whore and now she had a daughter to deal with all by herself. A beautiful eleven year old girl. Eliza couldn't possibly comprehend how her husband could leave behind such a wonderful child._

 _She was walking to her friend's house, Diana Nichols, with Mellie. Her good friend had always been so supportive, and she really helped to make Eliza a bit happier. She decided to bring Mellie along because Diana had a bright boy about Mellie's age. She figured since Mellie had put herself into a shell even after a year from when her father left, she should have a friend to make her less of an outcast._

 _She knocked on the door. Diana opened the door with open arms, calling her son downstairs._

 _"Andy! There is someone I'd like you to meet."_

 _The quiet almost-twelve year old came running down the stairs, walking up to his mother. Eliza and Diana walked inside themselves, pushing the two children outside._

 _They stood there awkwardly. Mellie didn't really want to talk, she just wanted to curl up and read a book like she always did. The boy, however, spoke up._

 _"Hi, I'm Andrew, but you can call me Andy."_

 _He smiled at her. He never talked to girls much, but she sure was the prettiest girl he'd seen. He suddenly felt himself blush. She shyly smiled back at him, replying quietly._

 _"I'm Melody, but I prefer Mellie."_

 _They stood there for another couple minutes. He suddenly sat down on the grass. She looked at him, doing the same._

 _"So, Mellie, what do you like to do?"_

 _"Read."_

 _"I do too! What kind of stuff?"_

 _They continued talking for the next couple minutes, laughing as the awkwardness melted away, revealing a new friendship. Unlike anyone else, Mellie told him about her father leaving. Just when she felt like he wouldn't like her anymore, he told her how his dad died before he could even remember him._

 _Despite feeling sad about their parents, the two adolescents felt closer; they shared one thing in common which helped to ease the feeling of separation they had from other kids._

 _As they continued their conversation, Eliza and Diana looked out the window happily, pleased that their two children were bonding._

 _After another half-hour, the two mothers bid their farewells, and so did Mellie and Andrew._

 _"Bye Andy!"_

 _"Bye Mellie!"_

 _..._

 _Senior year of highschool, and the duo were still friends. Close friends actually. And although he didn't want to admit it, Andrew was madly in love with Mellie. But unlike the other guys who went after her only for her looks, he loved everything about her. He helped her, and she helped him. One time they were walking home from school:_

 _"Guess who's got all A's right now? This girl!"_

 _Andrew smiled at her. He loved how she knew how smart she was._

 _"I don't think you've ever gotten a B in your whole life."_

 _She laughed lightly._

 _'God I love the way she laughs.'_

 _His thoughts were interrupted when she quickly looked at her watch._

 _"Well, I got to get to work, see you later!"_

 _She flashed him a smile, the kind of amazingly stunning smile only an angel would give you. He sighed. He was lucky to even have a girl like Mellie as his friend. She was kind, smart, and beautiful. She would never like him back though._

 _Mellie hastily walked into the store she worked at, placing her bag down. She was never late for work, primarily because her boss scared her. Well, scare was an understatement. He was always leering at her inappropriately and "accidentally" brushing up against her._

 _"Hello Mr. Carter, how's your day going?"_

 _Her boss looked up at her, eyeing her thoroughly like he usually did. He responded with a sickening grin._

 _"Spectacular now that you're here."_

 _She chuckled uncomfortably._

 _"Well, I should get to stacking the shelves, wouldn't want to have empty ones when customers start rolling in."_

 _He looked around, eyeing the clock, smirking when he saw the time. He moved closer to her, making her feel uneasy._

 _"Lucky for the two of us, the store won't open for an hour."_

 _She turned away from him, making sure he didn't see her eyes widen. He was being creepier than usual._

 _She casually started wiping the table, pretending to be busy. She could feel his presence behind. He was lucky she was desperate for a job or else she would have quit the moment his harassment started._

 _She heard his footsteps behind her. He took the towel she was using, placing it aside._

 _"Why don't you take a break Melody."_

 _"But I just started."_

 _She practically squeaked out her response. He placed his body in front of her, putting his hands on her arms, rubbing up and down. He leaned down to kiss her, but she pushed him away, grimacing at his advancement._

 _"W..what are you doing?"_

 _Without saying anything, he pushed her against the table, letting his hands wander up her skirt._

 _"What...Stop...STOP!"_

 _She was just a seventeen year old girl, she had no clue what to do._

 _"Come on, don't pretend not to like it. I thought sluts like you don't care."_

 _That name made her cringe. Why did he think that? She'd never even had sex before._

 _She continued struggling against him, hitting his chest and yelling at him to stop._

 _Meanwhile, Andrew was walking up to the store. He occasionally came by to help Mellie set up, or just to make sure Mr. Carter wasn't getting too handsy._

 _As he opened the store door, he was appalled by the image in front of him. While Mr. Carter was nearly on top of her, Mellie was struggling underneath him. A sudden anger flowed through his body._

 _"What the fuck do you think you're doing to her?"_

 _Mr. Carter turned to face him, a look of shock on his face. He quickly jumped off her._

 _"Mr. Nichols, hello. We were just...she...well..."_

 _"I don't need excuses, I saw what was happening, you sick son of a bitch."_

 _He helped Mellie off the table, whose face was as white as snow. Mr. Carter turned angrily to them._

 _"Remember now, if either of you say a word about this, there will be hell to pay. Who would believe two teenage idiots anyway?"_

 _As much as he wanted to, Andrew refrained from punching him in the face. Instead, he helped Mellie out the store, who was shaking._

 _"It's gonna be okay, I swear I'm never letting anyone touch you like that again."_

 _..._

 _As much as the two cared for each other, there was a time when they were apart. After high school, Mellie got accepted into Yale, while Andrew got accepted into Berkeley in his home state, California. They continued to write each other, and soon enough they were out of college._

 _The years seemed to pass by quickly, and before they knew it, they were two twenty-four year old adults. They decided to meet up for the first time in years._

 _"Andy!"_

 _"Mellie!"_

 _They hugged each other happily. God, it had been so long. He stared at her face for a moment. She had really blossomed into a beautiful woman. Her eyes were still the same beautiful bright diamonds as always, and her smile was still as radiant as the sun._

 _The two had never ceased to stop writing to each other, so they didn't have much to catch up on. They just continued conversation like old friends. Suddenly, their conversation turned to their love life._

 _"So, have you met any nice woman?"_

 _He stuttered for a moment. He had gone on many dates with different woman, but none could compare to the feelings he had for Mellie. He replied simply._

 _"Yeah."_

 _He noticed she was particularly quiet after that. He dreaded asking how her love life was going, primarily because he found himself being envious. He took in a breath._

 _"What about you?"_

 _She looked slightly nervous at his question._

 _"Well...that's what I kinda wanted to tell you. I'm...uh...getting married."_

 _His heart dropped. He felt himself breaking apart and wanting to cry, but also refusing to believe her words._

 _"Wait, wait! You're getting married?"_

 _"Um...I guess."_

 _"What do you mean you guess?"_

 _She looked at him irritated._

 _"Andy, it's not like I exactly had a choice."_

 _He suddenly felt bad. He knew her family was a traditional family who didn't care much for what their children's feelings were and cared more for appearance. She continued, looking down at the ground._

 _"I wish...I had a choice. But...dad said he'll cut mom off if I don't agree. And I can't let that happen."_

 _She started crying. He knew it was bad because Mellie never cried. He pulled her into a hug._

 _"I'm sorry. You deserve so much better."_

 _She smiled a tiny smile._

 _"How could I ask for a better friend?"_

 _His heart was shattering to pieces. She was marrying someone, and it wasn't him. Well, he always knew he was never going to marry him. He whimpered his response._

 _"Yeah, friend."_

 **I tried to make this longer, and I actually like this chapter. All the flashbacks have been slowly revealing who Mellie was before in different points of view, now I'm gonna make flashbacks in different points of view leading up to Mellie's suicide. So ya know, the flashbacks will probably be a bit more...depressing O-o Anywho thanks to all you have been reading and reviewing, ya'll are awesome! :D**


	9. Chapter 9

It had passed a week since Mellie's suicide attempt. She hadn't made a single sign of waking up anytime soon. And as much as he tried to not think about how she could never wake up, Fitz thought about her every night when he tried to sleep.

In the morning, he visited Mellie before he went to work. After a long day, he visited her before he went home. He had this process everyday.

Weeks started passing. While everything inside her was healthy, she hadn't made any progress on waking up.

Slowly, Fitz started losing hope. Every night it felt like he cried. Every night he missed the warmth of Mellie's body next to his. He now no longer cared she refused him sex; he only desired to see her smile again. He hadn't seen that in so long.

Granted, she hadn't really smiled much before her suicide attempt. She was so...sad.

As he sat in his bed thinking this, he shot up. He never did think much about why she was so depressed before this. Her change seemed so sudden, like something awful had changed her.

Something awful.

What had happened?

...

Jerry, for once in his life, was starting to feel a little uncomfortable. Every since this whole ordeal with Mellie started, Fitz had become unbelievably dependent on him. He'd call him and talk to him for hours. He would ask to come over all the time. And one of the more notable things, he would talk to him about his...feelings.

He understood that he was lonely, but him and Fitz had never had a close relationship. He wasn't sure how to be a supportive father; it's not like this time he could send him off to boarding school so he'd leave him alone.

One night, as he had just got home from a long hearing, he heard a knock on the door. He tiredly walked up, turning the metal knob.

"Hi dad!"

He was taken aback. Fitz didn't even call this time.

"Um...hello?"

He walked quickly into the house, smiling rather oddly. He suddenly looked concerned at his father's irritated face.

"What's wrong?"

He rubbed his eyes wearily.

"Why the hell are you here? You didn't even call!"

"Well I did call, but you didn't answer. So I figured you'd let me stay anyways because you're my dad."

He sighed loudly.

"Fitzgerald look, you are literally always here. You are the governor. Your home is the governor's mansion, not your father's house hundreds of miles away."

"Well...I'm sorry if I have zero human companionship. And I do not count my co-workers, I mean people I genuinely know."

"What about that Andrew guy?"

Fitz grumbled under his breath.

"Maybe he'd be good if he wasn't always eyeing my wife."

Jerry ignored him.

"Fitz please, just...you should be home right now, don't you think?"

He could tell something in Fitz had snapped, because he turned around, glaring at him as tears filled the diameter of his eye lids.

"Home? Home! That place is not my home, at least not now. You want to know why? YOU KNOW WHY! My wife is in a coma! She tried to commit suicide and I don't know why the hell she tried to do that. And now she might not ever wake up. I have a son I have to deal with all by myself, and I work a full time job! So I come here because YOU'RE ALL I HAVE LEFT!"

He fell onto his knees, burying his face in his hands, as he violently sobbed.

"You're all I have...left."

Jerry suddenly fell a little bad, and the guilt he had ignored for weeks came back. He bent down, placing a hand on Fitz's shoulder.

"Don't worry, Mellie is going to wake up, and you won't have to worry anymore."

He was saying that for his own sake. If Mellie died, their secret _would_ die with her. But if she died it would also mean Fitz would fall desperately clingy to Jerry.

Fitz flung his body onto his father, hugging him tightly as if he were still a little boy.

"Oh dad, what would I do without you?"

He rolled his eyes. He wished Fitz would just leave him alone.

He patted his back irritatingly, staring coldly down at his sobbing son without his knowledge. He knew Fitz had zero clues what had happened between him and Mellie; he was too naive and stupid to see that.

He wasn't aware his family was destroyed by his family.

...

Eliza paced across the room. She had been doing this multiple times during the past month. It helped her to think. She smiled as she thought about that; Mellie did the same thing when she was stressed. 'Great, now you're going to cry' she thought tearfully. She was staying in California until she knew Mellie would be okay. _Would be_. She had to keep saying that.

Mellie _will be_ okay.

She wasn't sure if she would be able to bear it if her only child didn't make it.

As she was pacing the room, a thought came to her head that she hadn't thought in a long time. Why would Mellie try to take her life? Truly there had to be a reason. Mellie was smart. She wouldn't just decide without thinking thoroughly to do something as insane as that.

She continued pacing until she looked at her phone. She remembered her good friend, Diana Nichols, was a therapist. She had known plenty of people who had attempted suicide or had depression.

She quickly grabbed the phone, dialing her number.

The phone ran for a little bit. Suddenly the other line picked up.

"Hello?"

"Hey Diana, its Eliza."

"Oh hey, it's been awhile, how are you?"

"I'm coming along."

There was a bit of silence, until Diana cleared her throat on the other end of the line.

"I uh, Andrew told me about Mellie. How's she coming along?"

Eliza sighed shakily. She wasn't sure how she would be able to ask about Mellie's problem.

"She...she's hanging in there. I actually needed to ask you something."

She took a slight pause.

"So you probably know, she tried to um...kill herself. And I've been trying to know why. I am her mother and she has never had depression problems. It seems like after she got pregnant she completely changed. I didn't notice too much aside from her being a little less talkative, but then Fitz said after Jerry's birth she became really depressed. I was going to ask if maybe you could figure out why?"

"It'll be tricky to be able to find out exactly what was wrong without being able to talk to her. But this sounds an awful lot like Post Partum Depression."

Eliza was perplexed.

"What?"

"That might be the case, but I'm a little skeptical considering post partum patients aren't usually depressed during pregnancy. Sometimes depression can be triggered by something traumatic."

Eliza thought for a moment.

"Well, she wasn't being very open for the past few months. It was kind of like she was hiding something. And I know Mellie, she would not hide nothing from me. Maybe something did happen. She became a bit distant from me but I thought it was just motherhood. But then Fitz told me recently she wouldn't even let her touch him. She also became so modest. Yes, I understand she's getting older, but I feel like she's always hiding away her body."

"Did she seem particularly distant from men?"

"Kind of, now that I think of it."

Diana went silent. It seemed she didn't want to speak what was on her mind.

Eliza grew impatient at the silence. She cleared her throat abruptly.

"Does that mean you have no clue?"

"Well...I hate to say it, but a lot of these things sound like things I've heard from victims of abuse."

If she wasn't already before, Eliza was stunned. She felt like the wind got knocked out of her.

"Someone...has hurt my daughter?"

"I'm not really sure, but it sounds almost identical to those cases."

Eliza hung up the phone without saying goodbye. She felt so angry and sad at the same time. She wanted to wring a neck. Or the neck of the person who laid hands on her daughter.

Who had done this?

Her mind went straight for the boy she never trusted.

Fitzgerald Thomas Grant III.

...

Andrew was driving slowly down the street. The past month he had been visiting Mellie's mother to see how she was doing. It was on these once a week visits they would visit Mellie in the hospital together.

As he drove up to the house's gigantic driveway, he saw the strong figure of Eliza walking down the porch steps angrily.

He quickly opened the car door and walked up to her.

"Is everything okay?"

She pushed him back into the car. Practically ripping the door off the car, she climbed into the vehicle, shutting the door so the car shook. She turned her head hastily to face him. Her eyes burned with fury.

"We're paying the Grants a visit."

...

 **Ohh snap gurl's got it all wrong. She just needs to get rid of a Roman numeral in the name and she'll be correct. So this chapter I tried to mesh the characters points of view into one chapter. The next chapter all the characters should be together. Things are heating up. As always, thanks for reading! :)**


	10. Chapter 10

Andrew drove rather nervously. He could feel Eliza's rage. He could see it in her eyes. It was a kind of deadly glow that conveyed only murdeous intent.

As he drove on, he turned onto the side of the rode. Eliza looked at him irritatingly.

"Why the hell did you stop?"

"You need to tell me what is going on."

Instead of explaining, she grabbed his arm, pulling him out of the seat. Pushing him into the passenger seat, she climbed behind the steering wheel. Hastily buckling the seat belt, she turned the car on while quickly pressing her foot hard onto the gas pedal.

With the increasing speed, the car made it to the governor's mansion in no time. As quick as lightning, Eliza unbuckled her seat belt, flung open the door, and marched to the door of the governor' mansion. Andrew, despite being oblivious to what was truely happening, got out of the car and followed.

Fitz' secretary recognized Eliza immediately and let her in, despite not seeing the red fire in her eyes.

Andrew finally caught up to her. She looked around, finally deciding that Fitz must be in his office. She slammed the door open, Andrew behind her. To her surprise, his father was there to; must be some stupid bill or something. Fitz stood up when he saw her.

"Eliza is everything..."

He was cut off by a slap to the face, followed by Eliza's cutting words.

"What the fuck did you do to my daughter?"

He was momentarily stunned, half-because of the searing pain in his cheek and half-because of her question. As for the other two, Andrew and Jerry were both seriously confused.

As he recovered, he stuttered out.

"W..what are you talking about?"

"Mellie. I know you had to be the reason she was depressed, that she tried to kill herself!"

Andrew had to hold her back from attacking Fitz, and everyone in the room except Eliza were puzzled.

"I did absolutely nothing to Mellie."

"Oh yes of course you'd say that, whoever spelt it delt it. Why do you think you were the one that told me Mellie was distant. You were trying to seem innocent. But I know you aren't. I spoke to one of my friends, and she told me Mellie is probably a victim of abuse. And I saw it. When she was awake I saw it. She was scared of you Fitzgerald. I know you hurt her, didn't you you sick bastard, because since the day you were born you've been a spoiled little brat who gets whatever he wants. I should have followed my gut, or else I wouldn't have let her marry you and let you destroy her!"

She choked out the last part, loosing all power in her legs. Luckily, Andrew was holding her already to make sure she didn't fall. She began sobbing, tears of regret, tears of hatred, tears of pure terror that her daughter would never wake up.

She had spoken like a mad woman, but the truth was that she needed answers. She needed someone to blame, someone to scream at to help even though the problem couldn't be fixed; she truly passed that on to Mellie.

Fitz stood there in complete shock. Jerry was white with fear. Andrew was sick with confusion.

Fitz couldn't believe it. Mellie was...abused? That couldn't be right. He would never let anyone hurt her. But someone obviously did, or else Mellie wouldn't have been depressed and distant.

Jerry finally believed there was nothing to worry about. Now the truth was coming out. Luckily for him, he could easily lie his way through this. They would never find out, Mellie was asleep and all was well. Than again, blaming Fitz could help cover his tracks.

Andrew wasn't sure what to think. He despised Fitz with a fiery passion, so he wanted desperately to believe Eliza's words. But he knew one thing: Fitz and Mellie loved each other to death, much to his demise. He didn't believe Fitz to be violent. But hey, if the tides would turn against Fitz, Andrew would be perfectly fine.

Fitz finally proceeded to move toward Eliza. He spoke, nearly in tears.

"Eliza, I want you to know something. I am privileged. I will admit that. But I would never, ever in all my lifetime, lay a hand on Mellie. I love her more than anything possible. The only thing I could love more than her is our son, and that is because he reminds me so much of her. She is my night and day, she is my life. I can't breathe without her. These past few months have been hell without her. And yes, we have been having problems. And now, I feel awful for not addressing them. Someone...hurt Mellie and I didn't even notice. I was selfish. But I know when she wakes up, I will find out who that person was. But I swear to the heavens above me, I adore that woman more than the earth and sky, and I would rather sell my soul to a clump of dirt than ever hurt her."

He spoke his words so sincerely and calmly, that everyone felt something. Jerry looked down to the ground; he had never realized how much Mellie truly meant to Fitz. He was nervous now though; after that speech, he could no longer say this was Fitz's fault without being suspicious. Andrew felt a surge of jealously; he truly loved her, which meant Mellie truely loved him. And Eliza, in all her years of knowing him, looked at him deeply. She looked into his watery blue eyes, and saw true honestly in them. She saw a man deeply in love, a man deeply tenacious in awaking his wife.

She whimpered out.

"Then who hurt my daughter? Who made my baby so depressed she thought she didn't need to be on this earth?"

Jerry knew he needed to play someone sympathetic. He placed a hand on her shoulder.

"We just need to hope and pray and when she wakes up we can fix everything."

She smiled up at him.

Andrew glared at Fitz; he had honestly wished Eliza was right. He wanted Fitz to be the bad guy and he could be the hero and than maybe Mellie would love _him_.

Suddenly, the secretary burst in.

"Mr. Grant, it's the hospital."

Fitz grabbed the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hello Mr. Grant, this is Doctor Pactricia, I'd like to inform you of good news."

"What?" Everyone leaned in to hear what the doctor had to say.

"Your wife's awake."

 **Oooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhh**

 **Also, who else loved Thursday's episode? I know I did :D**


	11. Chapter 11

None of them had ever reacted quicker to news. They quickly all went to the hospital together.

Fitz was in complete disbelief. Frankly, they all were.

They arrived at the hospital in no time. Fitz practically jumped out of the car before it even stopped. He ran quickly into the hospital, and easily made it to Mellie's room, being so used to going there. He was met by the doctor.

"Just for your information, your wife is waking up so please be a little..."

He didn't listen. He quickly but quietly opened the door to her room. The others finally caught up.

He sat down next to her. She moved slightly at his presence.

"Mels?" He whispered gently.

She groaned in reply, stirring slowly.

Eliza, Jerry, and Andrew now stood in the room with him. Mellie's eyes fluttered open.

"What...where am I?"

Eliza burst into tears, leaping towards her daughter. She wrapped her arms around her, squeezing tightly. Her tears dripped into the soft silk of Mellie's hair.

"Oh my sweet baby, I've missed you so much!"

Mellie's eyes shot open now. She pushed her mother off, much to Eliza's surprise. Mellie's frantic blue eyes ran over the room. She cringed when she saw Jerry standing there, and felt even more uncomfortable at seeing Andrew, mostly because of their earlier ordeal.

She quickly sat up, running her hand down her arm, feeling the IV's sticking out of it. She turned to her side to see Fitz smiling warmly at her. She was somewhat disappointed.

Her stomach dropped.

Fitz must have saved her, which means more questions. It was bad enough with all the questions he flung at her, but now she couldn't escape it.

Her demeanor became notably more panicked. She uttered her first sentence.

"Oh my lord, does the press now about this?"

They all were equally shocked by her choice or words. Did that really matter? Fitz looked down at her.

"Mels, that doesn't matter at all."

"It does! Oh my...they'll crucify you!"

She jumped out of bed, attempting to pull the IV's out of her arm. Fitz grabbed her wrist, preventing her from doing so.

"Mellie, what the hell? Calm down! You just woke up from a coma!"

He gently pushed her back into bed. She felt nervous.

Eliza was seriously concerned now; she had never seen her daughter so frantic in her whole life. This time, Eliza was making sure she would find out the truth.

Andrew was slightly smiling. God, she really was alive. He wanted so badly to run up to her and kiss her but that stupid ass was the one holding her hand.

Jerry was having a hard time pretending to be happy. His face was one of complete shock. He had been staring at her the entire time. Luckily, the girl was smart enough to never speak a word about that night, he engraved that into her brain for the last year.

Though desperately wanting to talk, Fitz realized Mellie had just woken up and they needed to give her space.

"I think we should give her some air, come on, let's go."

Though they didn't want to leave, they all agreed. Eliza grasped onto her daughter's hand until the distance was too far. Andrew smiled at his friend. Fitz looked back at his wife; seeing her eyes again; she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

Jerry left a couple seconds later than the rest. His reaction to Fitz's words was delayed. As he was in the doorway, Mellie moved in her bed. He turned to face her one last time. She looked up at him, staring directly into his eyes.

Her soft blue eyes darkened with fear as she looked into his icy blue eyes. She knew he would never let her talk about that night. She knew that from the angry she saw in his eyes. She made a deal, she couldn't break it. She learned that the hard way not to break it.

In all his fake kindness, he formed a slight smile, one that sent chills down her spine. Walking closer to her, he spoke in a sickly sweet voice. She froze as his gaze intensified.

"Rest well tonight, my dear."

With that, he left.

She sat there, staring off into space. She was so mad, so angry. How could Fitz save her? She needed to die! She was saving everyone from misery by getting rid of herself. She was saving her family.

And she was also saving herself.

 **Yay I love writing with Mellie in the story, it always adds something nice.**

 **Sorry, this is a short one.**

 **Did any of you catch those little things I wrote? Like Andrew talking about an ordeal he and Mellie had? Or how Mellie learned the hard way from breaking Jerry's deal? Little references for the future chapters. As always, thanks for reading, you guys really push me to continue :)**


	12. Chapter 12

It had been a month since Mellie woke up. Another few weeks, and she was finally home. Fitz had decided to move her into their old house now, he felt it best for her mental health. Even so, she still was depressed. He had noticed she had been more and more distant and quiet, and would spend most of her time outside alone.

He was heartbroken. He only wanted his wife back. He missed her bright eyes, her warm smile, and her soft embrace. He knew he needed to get her help. He had been trying to find her a therapist to talk to.

He got an idea.

He found a dog. A huggable, warm, fluffy, golden retriever. When he brought it home, it was the first time he'd seen her smile in over a year.

"Oh my god, Fitz! It's so cute! You knew I always wanted a dog. What should I name it?"

He smiled. He finally succeeded in making her happy.

"Anything you want. It's a girl though."

She stared into the dog's brown eyes.

"Madeline."

Fitz pet the dog's soft hair. He stared into Mellie's eyes. While still they had the cold grayness he had gotten used to, a dot of light flickered in them.

She was surprised with herself. Nowadays, she would have turned away, but in that moment, she stared back at him. The warmth of his eyes was something so familiar and comforting, she remembered how she used to love to get lost in his eyes, how they'd stare at each other with such passion and love.

But her thoughts turned elsewhere. The shade of blue in his eyes was the same as his father's, and she turned away sadly.

"Thank you for the dog, but I need to...go feed the baby..."

He sat there alone. Why was she so hesitant to every happy moment they shared? He just wanted to love her and treat her as she deserved. But she always turned away.

He sighed.

She needed help.

...

Over the next couple of weeks, Mellie grew closer to Madeline. She felt protected and comforted with the gentle creature by her side. It almost helped her forget about all the bad things. She didn't feel so alone. Even with her and Fitz, things were looking better. The dog gift had really helped fix things. Maybe she could get through this.

One evening, she heard a knock on the door. She was a little tired, and Fitz was gone at a meeting, but she opened the door. Her stomach dropped.

It was Jerry.

He looked almost surprised to see her. He hadn't seen her since she woke up in the hospital, which was eight weeks ago. He noted she looked surprised as well, or, more frightened.

"Mellie, well isn't this a pleasure."

She didn't feel like speaking. Her throat felt dry and strained, her legs felt weak and stiff, her heart racing a thousand beats a minute.

She stared quietly down at her feet.

"I wasn't...um...expecting you."

"Fitz didn't tell you? Well he invited me over for dinner tonight."

She was surprised and angry at Fitz. He should have told her.

"Well, he's late. He got stuck in traffic and is on his way home, should be back in about twenty-five to thirty minutes."

She stood there awkwardly. She didn't want to let him in. That was the last thing she wanted to do. But she didn't have a choice either. She slowly moved out of the doorway to let him in.

She felt so numb. When it came to Jerry, she was always numb. She couldn't move, she didn't want to. She attempted to dig her fingernails into her hands to prevent them from shaking, but the rest of her body continued to do just that.

Madeline awoke from her sleep, yawning and walking towards the stranger. She sniffed his leg intently, seeming unsure about the scent. She then walked back over to Mellie. Jerry stared at the retriever.

"I didn't realize you guys got a dog."

Mellie ran her hand delicately but nervously on top of the creature's head. She replied softly.

"Fitz thought she would be good for the two of us, she really has helped."

He reached to pet the dog, but a low growl emitted from Madeline's throat. He took his hand off; clearly the dog knew he was a danger to Mellie. He glared at the pet.

"I never did like mutts."

She shot back softly.

"Madeline is a sweetheart, I've never met a creature more kind a loyal than her. She's just defensive that's all, she smells a person and she knows _exactly_ who they are."

She stared angrily at him. He got a clue. He sat down on the couch silently. He smiled at her, making her feel slightly uncomfortable. She crossed her arms in front of her chest. For as long as she knew him, she had always disliked the way he looked at her. It always made her feel uneasy.

"Well, Fitz should be home soon, I need to...I'm actually really tired. I think I'm going to go to my room."

She turned to leave, but to her demise, he grabbed her arm.

"But you said it yourself, he won't be back now for another twenty minutes. That gives us plenty of time to talk, wouldn't want to sit here for that long and do nothing."

Her heart was beating hard now. Her eyes darted everywhere to find a way out. She half-whispered her response.

"I really just need some rest."

"Oh come on, we haven't spoken in so long, wouldn't it be nice to catch up, we used to talk all the time."

His eyes burned into her own, as his fingers dove deeper into the skin of her arm. She twitched at the increasing pain.

"Why not use that time wisely, my dear."

Her eyes watered with fear, her skin crawling with disgust, but just as she lost hope, the door lock clicked. He through her away from him, causing her to fall back into the couch. Fitz stood in the doorway. Jerry turned to him with fake sincerity.

"Ah Fitzgerald, my boy, how nice it is to see you."

Mellie sat in shock, but resumed her posture, staring blankly at Fitz. Her face was still pale, but she forced on a nervous smile. He replied back.

"Sorry I'm late, but I'm here now. So what about some dinner?"

Mellie shut her eyes in frustration. She murmured an excuse.

"I...I um...I'm really not feeling the greatest. You two can go in without me. I'm just gonna go to our room."

Fitz looked at her sadly as she quickly walked away. He sighed loudly when he heard their bedroom door close.

"We were going so well. I guess it was too soon to bring someone else back into her life."

Jerry was disinterested in Fitz's problems.

"I can go. It seems like you two should talk."

"Yeah, I guess so. Thanks dad."

Jerry left, and Fitz sat there for a couple of minutes, until he finally stood up and went to their room.

He slowly opened the door. He saw Mellie's figure curled up in a ball on the bed. She was crying so silently he couldn't hear her.

"Mels?"

She wiped her eyes. Luckily the room was dark, so he couldn't see her eyes were red. She sat straight up in the bed, staring at him.

"Yes?"

He was, for some reason, disappointed with her in that moment. She looked at him like a stranger; the little light he had seen in her eyes earlier had now bore into his heart like icy snow drops.

"Why didn't you join us?"

She turned away.

"I told you, I'm not feeling well."

He was trying not to get mad, but he knew she was lying.

"Mellie, I know that's not true. It's an excuse."

She seemed offended.

"So I'm tired, kill me!"

"Why are you getting defensive?"

"I'm not!"

"Yes you are!"

"Because you're saying I'm a liar."

He groaned. He sat down on the bed, planting his face in his hands. He didn't want to, but he really had no other choice.

"Mels, I'm doing this because I love you more than anything possible. I'm sending you to a therapist."

She was aghast.

"What?"

"It's for the best..."

She cut him off.

"Oh so you think I'm insane, that's it, right?"

"What? No! What the hell, I never said that! This is to help you heal."

She jumped off the bed, pacing across the room.

"I don't need help, I don't need to heal, you don't even know what's wrong with me!"

He stood up angrily.

"I would if you told me, if you let me help you!"

"OH SO NOW YOU WANT TO HELP ME!"

He stared at her, confused as hell. She just turned away, stomped out of the room, and slammed the door. He wanted to cry.

He wanted his family back, his wife back.

He wanted to know what he didn't do right.

What happened?

...

 **A/N next chapter will be a flashback! :) Don't you hate it when your favorite fanfic never gets updated? That's happened to me so many times and it sucks XD**


	13. Chapter 13

**This will be a long chapter for all you, my awesome readers, enjoy!**

 _"God Mr. Wyatt, tell me why we're going out tonight, it's freezing!"_

 _A young, twenty-four year old Mellie groaned as she shivered under the thin coat she was wearing._

 _She had no clue why her mother out of all people, had told her that her boss, Jim Wyatt, was taking her out tonight. She had a lot of paperwork to finish and the last thing she wanted to do was probably meet another one of her boss's older friends who usually stared at her longer than they needed to._

 _He angrily shot back._

 _"If you want to keep a job as my clerk you'll stop complaining!"_

 _She kept quiet. She knew better than to anger her boss. Though he had a temper, he at least never treated her unfairly. Or, more importantly, he never was a pervert like most of the men she had encountered in her life. He treated her like a person, not an object. Maybe it was because her mother was good friends with him so he knew never to even look at Mellie a second too long._

 _They finally walked into a small bar, Franks Tavern, and sat down._

 _They sat quietly for awhile, until Mellie got impatient._

 _"So can you at least tell me what we're here for?"_

 _He couldn't help but chuckle as he looked at his clerk. It was quite amusing how she was still so young and not willing to wait._

 _"My friend should be here..."_

 _An older man and a man just a few years older than herself walked up. The young man looked noticeably confused at seeing Mellie._

 _"Dad, I thought we were just meeting an old friend of yours."_

 _Mellie was dumbfounded._

 _"I thought you said the same, Mr. Wyatt."_

 _The older man and Mr. Wyatt exchanged amused glances, while Mellie and the younger man exchanged confused ones. The grey-haired man spoke._

 _"Well, I'm assuming you must be the lovely Melody, my name is Jerry, and this is my son Fitzgerald."_

 _She shook his hand with an awkward smile plastered on her face. His sharp eyes looked over her with great detail. But instead of feeling like the man was staring lustfully at her, his gaze felt more like he was examining her as if she was a horse he had just bought._

 _When their eyes met, a cold chill sent down her spine. Something about him made her feel uncomfortable. His eyes were cold and dark, despite being a bright and bold blue shade. His smile felt insincere and that is trying to hide someone cruel underneath it. Her mind spoke to its self._

 _"My sweet mother of mercy Mellie, one look can't mean anything."_

 _Finally she turned away from him, staring at her feet._

 _The younger man, being quite intelligent, could tell she was uncomfortable, so he offered his hand out._

 _"Well, um...I'm Fitz."_

 _She took his hand into her own, but as they looked into each others faces, their eyes locked with the same eagerness._

 _Fitz hadn't quite looked much at her, but as he took a close look, she was the most beautiful women he had ever seen. Her glowing eyes are what really caught his attention, however. Something about them were so curious and bright, while also being kind and gentle. He felt so lost in their stunning sky blue color._

 _She noticed his eyes too. While genetically having the exact shade of blue as his father, his eyes held no coldness like his did. His eyes were just the opposite; they were kind and warm, but deep down she saw someone who was independent and fiery in those crystal orbs._

 _Jim and Jerry noticed their holding gazes. They smiled once more at each other. Jim spoke happily._

 _"Well, Jerry and I are going to get something to drink, it seems you two can hold up."_

 _They walked away at identical times, leaving the pair alone. They realized now how awkward the situation was. Fitz's mind ran quick._

 _"Crap. Crap. Crap. What do I say?"_

 _Her thoughts were similar._

 _"Come on Mellie say something!"_

 _They both settled with sitting down in the same booth, while staring silently at each other. Fitz felt bold enough to start the conversation._

 _"So Melody, where are you from?"_

 _"It's just Mellie."_

 _And there their conversation continued. Throughout the evening, they talked and laughed, while not remembering they were total strangers._

 _The time came for the pairs to leave. They both waved each other goodbye._

 _Fitz smiled. He couldn't get her laugh out of his head. Mellie giggled. She remembered the soft sound of his voice._

 _They both seemed equally happy about that evening._

 _That was until the truth of their meeting was revealed._

 _..._

 _A few months later, the duo was married. Unlike that evening, they didn't forget they were strangers. Fitz hated it that his father was behind all this. Mellie was angry her mother had lied and made a deal with her father._

 _The only time they really spoke was usually in arguments. It was noticeable, even in public, that the pair didn't like each other. This saddened Eliza, because she hated it that her daughter was to face the same fate as herself, and this angered Jerry because the two were ruining his own image._

 _After one particularly heated argument, Mellie went outside to get some fresh air on the balcony._

 _"Why does he have to be so irritating?"_

 _She growled half-to herself but ended up speaking it out loud. Grabbing the nearest pebble, she chucked it off the balcony full force._

 _"I graduated top of my class at Yale and yet I'm married to an idiot who thinks he's the next big thing!"_

 _She angrily slammed her hands onto the pavement of the wall. A voice startled her before she did any more._

 _"Good god someone had an argument."_

 _She rolled her eyes. Her more than overbearing father-in-law was the last person that could calm her electric nerves._

 _She didn't turn around. She just stayed glued on the end of the balcony fuming with anger. He realized her furious state._

 _"What's my son done now?"_

 _She turned at him curious._

 _"How do you..."_

 _He cut her off._

 _"You guys aren't very quiet and I was married once."_

 _She turned back around, irritated. Jerry still remained at the doorway of the balcony, staring at the young woman. She continued her death stare at the ground, until, effectually, she clenched her teeth slightly._

 _"Can I help you?"_

 _He chuckled lightly, walking towards her._

 _"One thing about Fitzgerald is that he'll never admit he's wrong. He kind of builds off others to get where he wants. The problem isn't really him, it's you."_

 _She shot her dagger eyes at him._

 _"You can leave, you know that?"_

 _He was quite amused. For a twenty-four year old, she was remarkably bright and bold, but she still was so oblivious._

 _"I didn't mean it like it sounded. What I mean is that you're much different than Fitz. Different in a good way. You're independent, he's dependent. You're a hard worker, but he prefers to stand in the sidelines. You're ambitious, he's...not. But if you look past your guy's differences, opposites do attract best."_

 _She dropped her glare. She stopped to think._

 _"Well...I never really thought of it like that. I wonder if he's always mad because I work so much, because I get upset at how he never does anything."_

 _She felt embarrassed._

 _"I'm sorry, you probably don't want to hear about my...marriage problems."_

 _He let out a light laugh._

 _"It's fine, I was just like you."_

 _"Really?"_

 _He nodded._

 _"The only difference was, was that I didn't care that my wife stayed home. But like you, I was quite ambitious, and I never really saw the important things in life. Fitz's mother hated it though. And even if we had...problems, we were still a team for Fitz."_

 _She smiled slightly._

 _"What was Fitz's mother like?"_

 _He was surprised, but he smiled back at her._

 _"Well, she was kind of like you. She was kind and smart, not to mention beautiful, and she cared a lot about others."_

 _She smiled down at the ground. Jerry turned to face Mellie more directly._

 _He looked at her more intently than he realized. Her physical features did remind him of his deceased wife. It made him slightly envious that Fitz got a chance that he threw away._

 _She turned quickly, not knowing Jerry was so close to her. When she saw their short distance, she backed up a bit, more nervously then she intended._

 _"Well...uh thanks I guess, I'm really tired so I'm off, good night!"_

 _He continued to stare at her until she was out of sight. He shook his head, turning to go inside._

 _..._

 _She had taken the week off, because she knew she worked far too much. Fitz had planned to take her out to dinner._

 _However, she contracted an awful cold. He was originally disappointed at this, but he was determined to prove himself useful to his spouse._

 _He brought her food, that he attempted to make by himself without burning their apartment down, and take care of her in any way possible. One particular time, he was bringing her food. When he placed it down for her to eat, she grabbed his hand. He looked at her, surprised at her movement._

 _"Let's...let's not fight anymore okay. I know we're really different, but think about the night we first met. We didn't know each other and we were perfect together. How about we start over, forget the bad, forget the faults, and move forward, as a team. I know that's what I want. Tell me you want the same too? Tell me you want a future with me?"_

 _He had never heard her say anything like that. He looked down at her, flabbergasted. He eventually gripped her hand._

 _"Of course I want a future with you."_

 _She smiled weakly at him._

 _"We're a team?"_

 _"We're a team."_

 _..._

 _A couple weeks later, the Grant family was invited to a ball, and Mellie decided to bring her mother._

 _As her and Fitz waltzed together, they looked into each other' eyes the way when they first met. An intangible love could be felt between the couple. They both smiled happier than they ever had. Their gaze was locked stronger than any power._

 _Jerry and Eliza watched from the side. Eliza tried to hold her tears, while Jerry watched with a small smile._

 _Their children truly grew to love each other._

 _But love can be filled with a pathway of thorns._

 **A/N Oh my sweet mother of Jesus that took forever to write! I hope y'all will like this one, I just figured I wanted a cute Mellitz backstory. I thought it would be interesting to have them going through some major problems, but then they mend them and grow deeply in love. As always, thanks to my awesome readers! P.S. next flashback will probably than focus on when everything crashed downhill.**


	14. Chapter 14

It was cold outside. Mellie sat on the couch, staring out the window at the chill outside. She would have lit the fireplace, but she despised fireplaces. There sickly heat seemed to wrap around her skin in the most unpleasant way. They just brought back dark memories she wished to get rid of.

Madeline slept at her feet. She smiled at the blonde creature, then turned back at the window. Her eyes deeply focused on the edge of the balcony. Something seemed so appealing about the end of it. So easy to...fall off of. A quick death, simple, silent, and no one would be able to save you. A perfect...

Her thoughts were interrupted by a baby crying.

Her mind had to comprehend the noise. She quickly realized it was the one year old Jerry, who was making the fuss. She slipped off the couch and walked to his room. She picked him up, cradling him in her arms.

"Hi baby boy, are you hungry?"

She realized she had just fed him.

"Do you need your diaper changed?"

His diaper wasn't full.

"Are your teeth hurting?"

He had something to chew on.

While she tried to figure the problem out, she realized his crying stopped. He was sleeping soundly in her arms. Her eyes widened in surprise.

"Were you lonely?"

She felt sad at her own words. Did she not give him enough attention? Was she not warm enough? She truly tried as hard as possible to ignore his unknown paternity and take care of him like a normal mother. He did look very happy though.

She smiled, feeling slightly comforted at such a peaceful sight.

"Oh baby boy, I'm glad you can be so free of stress."

She placed him softly down in his crib, gently sitting down next to it. She didn't want to leave; the quietness of her child's presence filled her with joy she hadn't felt in a long time.

For once she forgot the paternity of her son, and took a deep breath.

For once she let in fresh air.

For once a small smile made its way across her face.

...

Eliza was nervous about tonight. She had barely spoken to Mellie at all since she woke up. This deeply saddened her because her and Mellie had been so close.

Tonight, however, she would change that. Fitz had called Eliza and asked her to come over for dinner along with Andrew and his father.

She opened her house door, breathing in the late afternoon air. It was cold and crisp, like how the California air was near winter. She missed the gentle snow of the winter seasons back in North Carolina, but she moved to the warmer state to be closer to her daughter.

Stepping slowly onto the mahogany steps of the porch, she descended them. A light smile grazed her features as she thought of her beautiful daughter.

She was her dearest treasure.

...

"Oh, why did I say yes?"

Mellie thought angrily to herself. When Fitz had asked her if inviting Jerry, her mother, and Andrew for dinner, was okay, she didn't want him to get upset. So she said yes.

The truth was, she wasn't ready to have to see those faces. Ever single one of them seemed to hold a memory of something terrible about her. Each one of them knew darker secrets then Fitz should ever need to hear.

She never pushed her mother away after her father left. In fact, her mother was the person she loved the most until Fitz. But after what happened with her father-in-law, she felt like she couldn't trust her family. She felt like she couldn't even tell her mother what Big Jerry did.

As for Andrew, she felt like she could actually entrust him with her most horrid nightmare, but she was wrong. Her dearest friend wasn't there for her when she needed him the most.

As she fixed her hair she thought of the last guest.

Jerry.

Her face turned pale. Her distrust to him was the simplest to explain out of the three, but the circumstances of the situation she found impossible to even utter.

She grabbed a necklace to put on.

She had never despised a human being more than him. As she stared into her reflection she realized why.

He was the reason she hated herself.

Unlike anyone in her whole life, he had engraved into her brain, without saying a single offensive word to her, that she was worthless. Every drop of self-esteem she ever had was evaporated. He had taken away her ability to look into the mirror and decide if she looked good. She never did. She was never good enough. Never perfect. Just worthless.

She dropped her necklace on the floor.

" _You're the wife."_

 _"You are an asset."_

She shakily picked it back up, bringing it to her neck. A quaking smile forced its way onto her mouth. The pain it took to hide was greater than any pain she had ever felt.

But she needed to be as close to perfect as possible.

...

As she walked out of the bedroom, Fitz noticed her notable pale face.

"You all right?"

She replied with a simple node, and a delicate smile.

The doorbell rang, the three guests walked in at the same time. Fitz smiled at them.

"Hey Dad, Eliza, Andrew."

Mellie sat down quietly, her heart pounding as loud as a drum. She had faked it through so many dinners as is, she wasn't sure why it was so hard now. As the trio walked into the dining room, she smiled as bright as she could, attempting to hide her nervous exterior.

Eliza immediately went up to hug her daughter. Mellie was slightly shocked at her haste, but realized how much she missed the warmth and safeness of her mother's hugs.

"I've missed you so much Melody."

"I've missed you too Mom.

Eliza pulled out of the hug, running a finger through her daughter's silky brown locks. She placed a kiss on her smooth forehead.

Mellie completely forgot about the other two, but when she noticed them, her anxiety returned. She cleared her throat.

"Oh...hi Andrew...and Jerry."

She stiffened in her seat as the two smiled at her. Andrew's smile was one of pure desperation, because he wanted her to no longer be mad at him, and Jerry's was one of such fake kindness that she wanted to throw up.

The trio finally sat down, along with Fitz, who sat beside Mellie.

The dinner began, and a long, boring silence followed. Fitz realized the people he invited, despite being dear to Mellie, did not get along with each other. Luckily, however, no one was talking. Unfortunately though, Eliza broke the silence.

"So how I have things been here? I haven't heard from you in a _very_ long time."

Mellie shot her eyes up, replying softly.

"They've been good."

Jerry joined in.

"Not much to say?"

Andrew rolled his eyes.

"Sometimes people don't always need to talk, you wouldn't know that."

Jerry shot back.

"I can say what I want."

"I don't give a shit."

Fitz looked up angrily.

"Both of you stop."

Andrew growled.

"I'm sorry if I've had to deal with sitting next to an ass. Then again, you wouldn't be able to say what he is because you're just like him."

Now Fitz was mad.

"Screw you Andrew. You're just still angry that you couldn't get layed by _my_ wife."

Eliza got angry at the last sentence.

"Can you not talk about my daughter like an object? She's your wife, much to my dismay."

Jerry leaned forward.

"Will you stop making it out to be my son's fault that they're married? We all know you wanted it just as bad."

"That doesn't mean she needs to be treated as an object! But it's not like you have any respect for women anyway. You've screwed more women that I can count on all my fingers and toes!"

After Eliza's last words, the argument between the four only grew, and no one noticed Mellie slink out of her chair into the bedroom.

She didn't cry, she just sat on the bed, burying her face in her hands.

She muttered to herself.

"This is all my fault, why is it that I ruin everything!"

She slipped onto the floor.

When did things go so unbelievably wrong?


	15. Chapter 15

**Things ain't gonna be good in this chapter. TRIGGER WARNING**

 _Mellie paced the floor of her room. Cyrus Beene was coming back tomorrow morning and she had zero clue how to make Fitz and Jerry get along. She knew Fitz wanted to be governor. Deep down he wanted to make his dad proud. Something was holding him back though, and she needed to fix that._

 _Fitz came out of the bathroom. She smiled at him, hiding her stress. He wrapped his arms around her, kissing her sloppily on the lips. She could taste the alcohol on his breath. He spoke quietly._

 _"Screw everything. Let's just try for that baby again."_

 _She chuckled as she pulled out of the kiss, looking up at his crystal eyes._

 _"Not tonight. You have been drinking way too much. Go to sleep."_

 _He groaned as she left the room._

 _She could hardly see in the pitch black house, and she honestly wasn't sure what she was looking for. The house was far too big for her liking. She honestly was considering going to bed. But she was stubborn. She refused to leave a problem unsolved. Especially a parental problem. Even her and her own dad's relationship wasn't good at all, that didn't mean she couldn't fix Fitz and his father's bond. She yawned as she passed by a desk. Looking down at it, she noticed a picture frame. The picture inside it was of a young woman, a young man, and a young little boy. She thought to herself._

 _'This must be Fitz and his parents.'_

 _She smiled. They really did look happy. Suddenly, a voice behind her caused her to nearly jump._

 _"What are you doing up this late?"_

 _She turned around to see her father-in-law staring at her. His eyes somehow pierced through the darkness, giving her an immediate feel of unease._

 _"Oh I just...couldn't sleep."_

 _He nodded. His gaze wandered down her entire body, causing her to sift uncomfortably. Something about her was so sensual in that moment. He had always found his daughter-in-law attractive, but he never really thought about anything lecherous. However, he noticed her discomfort, so he turned to walk away, much to her relief. But as he walked away, she realized something. If she just could get through him, she could easily take out him and Fitz's conflict. She could fix their problem and then Fitz would finally be happy. She called out quietly._

 _"Wait, Jerry."_

 _He turned around. She walked into his office with him._

 _"I need to talk to you about something."_

 _His eyes widened._

 _"About what my dear?"_

 _He continued to stare at her, disregarding what she was saying about him and Fitz. Something caught his attention. They were alone. Fitz was asleep. This caused a thought he had never fully formed to create itself in his head. Any logic that would tell him to not think that was being blocked out. She was completely vulnerable._

 _She would have never guessed what he was thinking when a smirk formed on his face. But she noticed the glare in his eyes. It was something familiar, but it was also something she couldn't quite describe. He was thinking, she could decipher, but she couldn't quite conjure up what exactly that was._

 _"Did you hear what I just said?"_

 _Her soft voice brought him out of his trance. He regained his composure._

 _"Yes yes of course, how about you sit down."_

 _She looked at him confused, and then nodded her head._

 _She quietly sat down, much to his joy._

 _"So about Fitz."_

 _He rolled his eyes. Of course, he forgot that's all she was here for. He turned around, a fake smile on his face._

 _"What about him?"_

 _..._

 _She stared at the deep amber shade of the fire. She couldn't believe her own husband, a man who seemed so kind and sensitive, could shoot down a plane. However, she had much bigger problems at the moment. She could see out of the corner of her eye, Jerry staring at her. It wasn't a slight glance; it was a leering gaze. She attempted to act casual, despite her extreme discomfort. His lowered voice broke the silence._

 _"Good god you're a beautiful woman."_

 _She sighed. She had really hoped it wouldn't ever have to come to this, especially with a man she had respected. She glanced over at the door. She knew she should leave to escape the awkward situation._

 _He could see the annoyance in her eyes. Was he willing to take the risk? It was tempting. His mind didn't care about the consequences, and this was his only chance, considering she looked like she was about to jump off the couch._

 _He placed his hand upon the soft skin of her knee. Something about it was so perfect and smooth to him._

 _She reacted quickly to the weight of his hand on her leg._

 _"Jerry...I don't think..."_

 _She grabbed his hand, trying to get it off her. But his grip was strong. She used her other hand, attempting to counteract him. But he did the same._

 _"Oh shh shh."_

 _His hands found their way to her arms, attempting to stop her rapid movement. He could tell she was getting more panicked._

 _"Stop Jerry stop!"_

 _He grabbed her arms at the same time she tried to push him away. He held her firmly into place, bringing her just inches away from him. Her feminine scent was intoxicating. He whispered, a smile on his face._

 _"Do you really want me to stop?"_

 _She looked deeply into his eyes. Where cold ice once filled them that light she had seen earlier returned. But now she realized what it was. It was terrifying lust. Her frustration melted away, and was replaced with complete terror. Her eyes widened. She wanted to answer, but she was terrified. She was sure he could feel her shaking._

 _There was no way out._

 _..._

 _She stared blankly at the ceiling. Waiting. Waiting for her father-in-law to finish what he was doing to her. She gave up on fighting, and she had never felt guiltier in all her life._

 _She wanted to scream. She wanted Fitz to save her. But he wasn't going to. Her lungs wouldn't let her though. Her whole body wouldn't move. She had never felt so helpless in all her life. She just tried to think of good things, to completely disassociate herself from her body._

 _She realized she hadn't even cried a single tear. Her eyes were watery, from the extremely uncomfortable pain she was going through, but she refused to cry. She already felt weak enough, so she wouldn't let him see her cry. She was probably already worthless enough in his eyes. She wondered how a person could be so heartless._

 _Noticing her apparent submission, Jerry smiled in content. He leaned down to her ear. He whispered mockingly as he continued his assault._

 _"Good girl."_

 _She wanted to cry out, but all that came out was a disgusted whimper. She hated having him this close to her face. That was the one part of her that didn't feel violated. She just wanted to look away and pretend everything was okay. She just wanted to have Fitz hold her and tell her everything was okay._

 _After what felt like a century, he finally got off her. Looking quite satisfied with himself, he simply walked out of the room. Some how he felt greatly pleased in his actions. Almost like an animal, he had asserted his dominance. Sure she had struggled more then he liked, but at least he got what he wanted._

 _As his footsteps faded away, she blinked her eyes a couple of times. She wasn't sure how to react. She wasn't sure what to do. As the thoughts ravished her mind, she felt her entire body curl up in disgust._

 _And at last, there they came._

 _Tears._

 _..._

 _She widened her mouth to show her glowing teeth. She couldn't even call it smiling anymore. She could never smile in a true and wholesome manner ever again. Every day, she felt bitter. She found herself lashing out at her dearest friends and family. Especially Fitz. She never wanted him to touch her. She only felt Jerry's crawling hands instead of Fitz's soft ones. She didn't even want to think of sex. The very thought of it made her terrified and disgusted at the same time. Fitz had been so wonderfully patient, but she could tell his patience was waning._

 _But so was hers._

 _She would constantly have to go to parties and smile like she loved life. The worst parties were the ones with Big Jerry. Especially because he treated her with the same warmth and closeness as if nothing happened._

 _One party in particular was celebrating Fitz's first major bill passed after he became governor really made her mad. As the guests gave Fitz a round of applause, he left to get a drink. Mellie hated it when he drank too much. He acted like his father._

 _Jerry was giving one of his grand speeches that only smart people like her could see were fake._

 _"...Oh I loved her so dearly, and I know she would be so proud of our son."_

 _She rolled her eyes._

 _"Fucking liar."_

 _She turned to walk away before she threw up, and it seemed like Jerry saw so._

 _"And how could I forget..."_

 _He grabbed her arm roughly but gently enough to look non-harmful to the public. Her face was of terror and shock, but she switched it quickly to a smile._

 _He brought her close to him._

 _"...the wonderful Melody Grant! A spectacular young woman who has been nothing more than like a daughter to me."_

 _Although she was trying so hard not to, her face broke slightly at his words. Her exterior cringed._

 _'You sick bastard.'_

 _The guests raised their glasses, and Jerry's grip finally loosened on her. She suddenly felt light headed, so she turned to head outside. She stayed on the porch until the party was over._

 _'When did life go so wrong?'_

 _She asked this to herself all the time, even though she knew the answer. She didn't know why. She just wanted to go back in time and change what happened. She wanted to be whole again. To be happy with Fitz. She didn't deserve him, and he would be better without a worthless wife._

 _She began to think of all the happy times her and Fitz shared together. The thought made her smile, but she began to realize what they were now. She felt a tear roll down her face._

 _Just as she felt she was going to burst into tears, she heard the porch door open._

 _She knew it was Jerry._

 _She didn't bother to turn around, and he himself seemed to know her knowledge of his presence. She spoke angrily._

 _"You have one fucked up view of how you treat people that are like daughters to you."_

 _He was surprised at her tone. Something about it though he found oddly intriguing._

 _She turned roughly around to leave, but he blocked her way. She was really not in the mood for his shit. Her now dark eyes slowly made their way into a glare._

 _"Move."_

 _He continued to stare down at her. She hated not knowing what he was going to do next._

 _"You know I truly do enjoy how you believe I find you intimidating. It really is quite adorable."_

 _She shoved him away, but he quickly grabbed her arm, pulling her forcefully back in a painful position._

 _"God why do have to be so angry all the time?"_

 _She glared daggers at him. Her eyes were pleading and sad however._

 _"Because you fucking raped me and ruined my life."_

 _He was surprised at her boldness._

 _"So that's what that was? From what I remember, you let me do whatever I pleased that night."_

 _She stuttered. She didn't know how to explain to her rapist her feeling of the crime he performed on her._

 _"I...I...you have no idea..."_

 _"Why do you think you never told Fitzgerald? You knew the truth."_

 _She wanted to cry now. Half from the pain in her shoulder and half because he was making her feel guilty at his own discretions._

 _"I...I could tell him right now. I will!"_

 _He chuckled. He caressed her face, much to her demise. However, as his hand reached her jaw line, he grabbed it roughly, pulling her close enough that their noses were touching._

 _"I really wish you would. I would be impressed if you could make him believe you. Face it Mellie, he would trust me over you. You are nothing more than a piece of meat to him. You're nothing more than a replaceable asset that I bought for him."_

 _She struggled to get out of his grip, her legs slowly losing any strength in them._

 _"So maybe he would be mad at me for sleeping with his whore of a wife, but he would always come crawling back to me, because I matter. But you know, if you do sell the 'rape' story that could be a different ending. You see, I'm respected by the public. If you went forward, I would destroy you and Fitz. You would have nothing left. And it would be your entire fault."_

 _He finally let her go. She attempted to hide her tears, but it didn't work. As he turned to leave, he stopped in the doorway._

 _"And remember too, my dear, I can and will do it again. In case you ever need a reminder before you wish to ruin your and Fitz's life."_

 _He left her alone, in her great feeling of worthlessness, to contemplate whether she wished to live anymore._

 _Because she really was tired of her life._

 **A/N Wow that was looooooooong. I just really needed to cement Mellie's bitterness and pain while also revealing how cruel and twisted Jerry really is, even though we already know that. This chapter was supposed to give both the characters personal views. I really wanted to create more human characters though, but I didn't want to create sympathy. I wanted to create strong characters. But that's it and thanks for being patient!**


	16. Chapter 16

Mellie continued to sit in the dark of the room, surprised that the four could hold an argument that long. At this point, she wasn't even sure what they were saying. Suddenly, however, they stopped.  
She couldn't help but feel this was her fault. After all, everything was her fault. Every family she's been in becomes broken.  
Even though she's telling herself to be strong, her head makes its way into her arms, her eyes beginning to sob.  
Her cries became so loud that the four began to hear her.  
Looking at each other, the four made their way to the door. They listened for a little bit, until Fitz whispered.  
"I...I need to talk to her."  
Andrew whispered back angrily.  
"Who says you know what to do? I'm the one that's known her far longer than you have, and you sure haven't proven you can help her."  
Eliza chipped in.  
"To be certain you imbecile, I'm her mother, so I think I know how to handle this best."  
Jerry looked in thoughtfully.  
"What if she doesn't want to talk to anyone?"  
Eliza glared at him.  
"Oh let me guess, you know my daughter better than I do?"  
"Enough!"  
All head turned at Fitz's booming tone. He took a breath in.  
"We have argued more than we needed to tonight, so please, all of you leave."  
They all looked at each other, then turned to leave.  
As they all left, Fitz considered opening the door, but decided against it in the end. The last time he tried talking to Mellie when she was this upset she just stormed off.  
Instead he went to the phone, dialing in the desired numbers and did what he should have done a long time ago.  
He called a therapist.

"Are you kidding me? We talked about this before, I don't need a therapist."  
Fitz looked at her frustrated. Finally, he sighed.  
"First of all, we hardly talked about this. Second of all, this isn't just me. The doctor said you need this."  
She looked at him angrily.  
"What if the press sees us?"  
He took her hand in his.  
"I can't lose you."  
She was conflicted as she stared into his handsome blue eyes. They were filled with sadness, something she was very familiar with. She didn't want to have to burden him as much as she was. She loved him too much to do so. She choked out.  
"I...I will do it."  
The light that she had been so used to returned to his eyes, and he hugged her with all the warmth in his body. Nearly on the verge of tears, she returned his embrace.  
"Let's fix us."

As she walked onto the office, she turned to Fitz.  
"I'm sorry, I really am, but this is something I need to do...by myself."  
Even though he wanted to stay with her, he accepted her request.  
"I'll just be in the car eating lunch."  
He kissed her on the forehead.  
She sat on a seat, next to a woman who appeared to be pregnant. The woman looked about in her very early twenties, and had very pretty dark skin and black hair. After a few minutes, the woman spoke.  
"You're the governor's wife right?"  
Mellie nodded her head. Deep inside of her, she was saddened that's all she was known for now.  
The woman subconsciously ran a hand over her stomach bump.  
"I'm Olivia by the way."  
"Mellie."  
The two shook hands.  
Mellie soon realized they were the only two people there.  
"It must be nice to have a husband like that, sure seems like a nice guy."  
"He sure is."  
As the woman spoke, her hair moved to reveal her left eye more, on which there was a notable bruise. Mellie cleared her throat.  
"Who'd you come here with?"  
The woman's eyes filled with tears.  
"Uh…nobody. I wish I had a husband like you. Just an ex boyfriend."  
Mellie's eyes filled with sympathy. She understood the pain of abuse, just on a different level. The poor thing couldn't be more than twenty one.  
One of the therapists came out of their office.  
"Ms. Pope?"  
She stood up.  
"It was nice meeting Mrs. Grant."  
"Good luck."  
The woman went with the therapist, leaving Mellie alone.  
She soon began shaking with nervousness. She wasn't sure how she was going to avoid telling the therapist what happened to her. She needed to stay emotionally strong. If she told the therapist, chances are that the therapist would tell Fitz. She could not let that happen.  
After about ten more minutes of waiting in silence, a nurse walked out.  
"Mrs. Grant?"  
She stood up and walked with the woman, until making it to a office.  
"You'll be seeing Mrs. Naven today."  
The nurse left her to walk into the office. A middle aged woman looked up from her papers and stood up.  
"You must be Mrs. Grant."  
The woman stood up and shook Mellie's hand.  
"I'm Sofia Naven."  
"Nice to meet you."  
The woman motioned her to sit down. As she did so, the therapist grabbed a notepad and sat in front of her.  
"So Mrs. Grant..."  
"Mellie's fine."  
Sofia smiled at her.  
"So Mellie, what would you say brought you here today?"  
She wasn't sure what to say. Tell her the truth, or lie. She took a breath in.  
"So from my records you can probably see, I attempted to take my life."  
"Yes I can see that."  
Mellie stopped caring about her fake facade. She was done with lying.  
"For the past year, I've just felt so depressed and lonely. I don't feel worthy of my family, and I feel like I'm just holding them back from living their lives to the fullest."  
"And what made this change happen?"  
Mellie stuttered.  
"Um...stress. Just all this work to be the governor's perfect wife has really got me down."  
Mellie hoped the lie would work. The therapist, however, wasn't fooled. But she also could tell Mellie was hiding something that she wouldn't tell her.  
"Is that it?"  
"Well, when I was younger my father left me and my mother for another family. Ever since then I've always kind of had a self esteem issue."  
She came to a conclusion.  
"Okay Mellie. I'm going to show you a few abstract pictures. Yes I know this sounds useless, but it actually works."  
The brunette nodded her head.  
Sofia held up the first picture.  
"What do you see?"  
Mellie felt unsure.  
"I don't really...see anything."  
"Just look at it deeply. Don't be afraid."  
She sighed deeply.  
"I...I see a couple. They're happy. But then it turns to darkness...and they're broken apart...The...the female tries to escape the darkness, but it overcomes her."  
She began to go off guard.  
"It eventually takes it with her, until she submits to it, hoping that she will escape it in doing so. But...but then the male rips her out. He tries to b..bring her into the light."  
Tears began running down her face.  
"But then n...no matter how hard she tries the darkness won't let her go. And then it turns into...HIM!"  
She jumps out of her seat, the therapist staring at her.  
"I apologize greatly Mrs. Grant, I wasn't aware my methods were too intense for such a short amount of time. Please sit down and we can continue."  
"He's...he'll know! I can't take it again. I can't let it happen again! I can't! I just can't!"  
She started hyperventilating.  
"I'm deeply sorry I've upset you so much, but please take a breath and calm down."  
Instead, Mellie grabbed her bag, rushing out the door in tears.  
She ran out the door, opening the car door, now sobbing. Fitz looked at her surprised.  
"How did it..."  
She cut him off.  
"Please turn on the car."  
"Mellie..."  
"Turn on the fucking car!"  
He stared at her wide eyed. He decided to turn the car on, pulling out of the parking spot.  
The entire ride home was complete silence.  
As soon as they pulled in, Mellie jumped out of the car, rushing inside. Fitz attempted to chase after her, but she slammed their bedroom door in his face. For some reason this always happened to him.  
Just as he was about to open the door and ask her what as wrong, the phone rang.  
He reached to pick it up.  
"Hello. Is this Mr. Grant?"  
"Yes this is he."  
"This is Sofia Naven, you're wife's therapist."  
"Oh yeah. She rushed out of the office really upset."  
"That's why I am calling. The only information I could get out of her was that she was deeply hurt by a male, and that she's worried he's after her. She also has been feeling depressed and lonely and unworthy of being in a family. Do you happen to know anything similar to what I am speaking of?"  
"Well...our marriage was a bit rocky right before...she tried to take her life. But the only guy I can think of in her life that's hurt is her father. But she never seemed upset about that for as long as I've known her."  
"Okay. I'm not sure how our next appointment could go. And as for now, your wife needs to heal a bit more before seeing me next."  
"Okay."  
She hung up the phone. He stared blankly at the ground. He needed to figure out who had hurt her. Whatever happened, it must have been terrible. But he was ready to know.  
And he was ready to kill whoever hurt his wife.  
 **A/N you can probably tell this was kinda a filler chapter. I'm gonna make a flashback and then the next present day chapter will be really good I promise. Thanks as always for reading!**


	17. Chapter 17

_Eliza stared at her daughter sadly. She couldn't seem to figure out why she wasn't speaking to her. Mellie had always been energetic and talkative, but now she was silent and morose. Finally, she walked up to her daughter. "Hello dear" she spoke softly, "how are you today?" Mellie looked up at her mother. She replied quietly "I'm fine." Eliza's eyebrows curled in concern. She sat down beside her "Are you sure?" Mellie' bottom lip quivered. She was trying so hard to not cry. Eliza noticed "Oh baby what's wrong?" Mellie whispered "It's just everything momma! I...it's just so...so..."_  
 _She placed her face into her hands. She breathed in deep "I'm just stressed that's all." "Fitz said you've been distant" Eliza replied. Mellie looked at her with desperate eyes "Mom...please...I..." A knock came from behind them. It was Jerry. The duo turned around suddenly, but Eliza noticed something; Mellie looked terrified. He began speaking "Fitz is about to begin his speech so you guys should probably get going." He left the women, staring at Mellie's face for a moment. Eliza turned back to her daughter "Melody, you were saying?" Mellie shuttered, seeming unsure to proceed "It's Je...it's nothing." She got up quickly, hastily leaving the room. Eliza sighed deeply as she watched her daughter leave: it seems like she just couldn't fix her own and only daughter._  
 _..._  
 _Mellie's mother wasn't the only person who noticed Mellie's change. Andrew had noticed that Mellie almost never spoke to him, and eventually he started to plan to do something about that. One night, be approached Mellie._  
 _"Hey Mellie!"_  
 _She crossed her arms over her chest. She looked so uncomfortable. Andrew noticed this_  
 _"So, you and I haven't talked in awhile..."_  
 _She nodded awkwardly._  
 _"...so I was hoping we could now."_  
 _She nodded again, walking faster as she repeated her head movement._  
 _At this, Andrew curled his eyebrows in confusion and frustration._  
 _He placed his hand over on the wall to the side, and he successfully blocked her from proceeding forward._  
 _"Move"_  
 _She demanded._  
 _Her eyes looked like they were attempting to look angry, but they really were full of fear. Her hair was slightly in disarray and she looked like she was drunk, which was something of Mellie Andrew had never see. He looked sadly at her_  
 _"Why are you scared of me? What did I do?"_  
 _"_ _ **You**_ _didn't do anything. It's fine. Everything is fine."_  
 _Her voice slightly quivered as she finished her sentence, and Andrew knew she was about to break down. He spoke sympathetically_  
 _"Mellie...tell me. You know you can trust me."_  
 _Normally, she would have walked away so fast. But in this moment, she felt like crying._  
 _She grabbed his arm, pulling him into the closest room that she could find. She sat them down on a small wooden bench._  
 _He stared wide eyed at her_  
 _"What's wrong?..."_  
 _She stuttered for a moment, unsure what to say. She planted her face into his chest, sobbing as she did so._  
 _After a few minutes of this, she moved, staring at him wide in the eyes_. _He tried awkwardly to look away, as he realized what his feelings were. She looked desperate, and all he wanted to do was tell her he loved her._  
 _He was so tempted._  
 _He couldn't resist._  
" _Mellie?"_  
 _He whispered_.  
 _She blinked a couple of times_  
" _Yeah_?"  
 _"I want you to know that I love you."_  
 _Her face loosened_  
 _"I do too."_  
 _He moved closer to her, and she noticed this. She attempted to move further away, but he had her hand in his. His face was inches away from her. He spoke quietly to her_  
 _"I mean more than that."_  
 _"Andrew"_  
 _She replied, silently disgusted that a man that all she saw him as was a brother was telling her this. But overall, she had always known he had a love for deeper than a family-like bond._  
 _As she began to turn away, he kissed her straight on the lips. She didn't react for a moment, because she was in shock, so he continued by placing his hand on her face, stroking it. He had never imagined how truly wonderful the feeling of finally kissing her would be, and it was heavenly. It was better than what he had ever dreamed of._  
 _She froze, unsure how to react to this. Her heartbeat was racing, and she began shaking as she attempted to react._  
 _Finally, she muffled from under the kiss_  
" _Andrew!"_  
 _He didn't listen. He began getting more physical, placing his hand on her body, forcefully bringing her closer to him. He pushed her body down, not exactly thinking as he continued. His hand ran down the length of her body, relishing in the beauty of its feminine curves._  
 _"ANDREW!"_  
 _She yelled out, becoming more and more nervous as she felt a familiar feeling of helplessness._  
 _He whispered to her_  
 _"Don't yell please, just let me have this. Let me show you how much I love you."_  
 _Her body writhed underneath his weight, struggling to escape._  
 _She whimpered_  
 _"Andrew_ _ **stop**_ _!"_  
 _He looked at her, an expression of hurt on his face_  
 _"Why are you so stubborn about this? I thought you said you loved me?"_  
 _She cried out from underneath him_  
 _"Not like that! You're like a brother to me!"_  
 _He replied angrily, his attitude switching_  
 _"But you love Fitz like that? Even after everything I've done for you! You love that spoiled son of a bitch and not me!"_  
 _"Because he doesn't_ _ **make**_ _me love him!"_  
 _His eye twitched at her words_  
" _What did I do to you? I love you so much and you treat me like this!"_  
 _She reached her face up towards his, her body still trembling in fear as it was reaching a point close to a panic attack_  
 _"_ _ **Well I don't love you**_ _!"_  
 _His anger reached its peak, and despite his love for her, he felt great contempt for her at that moment._  
 _"WHY CAN'T YOU LOVE ME?"_  
 _He grabbed the sides of her arms, slightly shaking her._  
 _At this, she went into a panicked frenzy, a flashback coming back to her._  
 _She began screaming out at the top of her lungs_  
 _"Stop! Jerry leave me alone! STOP TOUCHING ME! I DON'T WANT TO! GET OFF OF ME!"_  
 _She began pulling her skirt down, as if it had been moved up. But her skirt had not moved until she touched it herself._  
 _She began moving rapidly, punching and scratching Andrew's chest._  
 _He attempted to stop her, but she was smaller and quicker than him. Finally, he caught one of her wrists, stopping her attack. He yelled_  
 _"What the hell!"_  
 _Her eyes went out of their trance, slowly focusing themselves on Andrew's angry face_.  
 _She glared deep into his eyes. Ripping her wrists out from his grasp, she kneed him square on the groin. He grunted out in pain as she slipped out from underneath him._  
 _She quickly jumped off the bench, turning back to him while giving him a burning stare_  
 _"You should have been content with our friendship, because now, you haven't gained my romantic affection, but you just lost my sisterly love."_  
 _His eyes planted themselves on her face, his anger rising to create his words. A scowl formed on his face as his eyes darkened with envy._  
 _He retorted spitefully_  
 _"Let me guess, you even whored it up with Jerry? And here I thought you didn't fuck people you looked at like family."_  
 _Mellie's eyes widened in horror. Her mouth lay agape as she took in his hateful words. She shook her head in disappointment; obviously Andrew was not the same person she grew up with. The once sweet boy that she could talk to was now a spiteful and envious grown man._  
 _She continued the shocked expression even as she slowly made her way out the room, roughly slamming the door behind herself._  
 _Andrew sat by himself, thinking more about Mellie's harsh rejection then how she actually felt._  
 _..._  
 _Mellie walked quickly down the hall, turning to reach Fitz's office. She needed to talk to him. She needed some sort of reassurance that she had a place in the world._  
 _She felt ashamed for doing so, but she bought a container of Oxycodone._  
 _She wasn't even sure why. It was in a moment when she felt like she needed something to stabilize herself. Something to numb the pain she had to feel every day._  
 _Lately though, she had been desiring something much stronger. She needed something to forever end the pain, and just a little bit of a useless drug wasn't doing that._  
 _This was the first time she had ever considered suicide._  
 _She was a once successful, once happy, twenty seven year old lawyer and wife._  
 _Once._  
 _Everything was once._  
 _And that was just a year ago._  
 _She had once trusted people, and she spoke to people._  
 _Now she had to deal with everyone she thought cared about her, breaking her to pieces._  
 _She never spoke to her mother after_ _the last time. She ignored her mother's cellphone calls, and she never made efforts to communicate with her. She was just so scared that her mother would betray her like everyone else she trusted. She wasn't sure how she would react to another person breaking another piece of her. Another part of her blamed her mother, for she felt like her mother was the reason she was in the position that she was in._  
 _As for Andrew, she saw him at formal events, but she never spoke to him. She could always feel him staring at her though. Sometimes she could see him. The glances he gave her were either of pure desire and longing or deep bitterness and resentment_. _She hated that she ruined their relationship, because she truly cared for Andrew as much as a sister would care for her brother. It made her mad that she couldn't make him happy._  
 _Jerry, however, was the person she was in the worst position with._  
 _She had seen him multiple times during the last month, and every time she did, he would find ways to sexually harass her. It seemed he would only dance with her at events just to touch her inappropriately or to make perverse comments about her body. She would tell him to stop, but he always continued to do it. It seemed like because he went to the extreme of forcing himself inside of her, that he felt he could grope her constantly. Or maybe he wanted to torment her excessively to keep her in line_.  
 _She loved Fitz though. She loved him so much that she was willing to sacrifice her own dignity for him. But she couldn't let him have to deal with her anymore. She loved him so deeply that she refused to have to make him suffer anymore. He deserved better._  
 _And she was not better._  
 _But maybe she had hope._  
 _Maybe she would change her mind._  
 _She finished her thoughts as she reached Fitz's door._  
 _She gently knocked on the doorway. He looked up_  
 _"Hello Mels, how can I help you?"_  
 _Already a pit was forming in her stomach. He now addressed her as a client. She placed her hands on her desk. He looked up at her, confused_  
 _"What's wro..."_  
 _"Can I just speak to you?"_  
 _He sighed_  
 _"Mellie I have to leave, I told you I had a late night meeting."_  
 _Her eyes grew desperate_  
 _"Fitz please!"_  
 _He turned back to her in frustration_  
 _"Mellie, I really don't have the time! I'm sorry, but I have more important things to do."_  
 _They continued to stare into each other's eyes, wanting so desperately to speak what they were feeling._  
 _Fitz hated the way he was acting, because he loved Mellie more than anything. But he also had a job, a job that he had worked many hours for._  
 _Without another word, Fitz walked out of the room, slamming the front door after him._  
 _Mellie stood there, a expression of despair on her face._  
 _He didn't have time for her._  
 _She stomped out of the room, going into her own, and sitting on her bed. She tapped her foot violently, not knowing what to do next. She stared at the Oxycodon bottle. She wasn't sure if she should grab it or not, but she was leaning more and more towards that option._  
 _She sighed loudly, attempted to hold back tears._  
 _As her emotions were conflicting, she was interrupted by crying._  
 _It took her a moment to comprehend the sound, but then she realized it was Jerry._  
 _Quickly wiping her tears, she got up to comfort the crying baby._  
 _As she picked up the baby, she spoke gently to him_  
 _"Hey there little guy. Don't cry."_  
 _As she continued rocking him, he continued sobbing._  
 _She tried talking soothingly to him, and placing him near her chest._  
 _She tried feeding him, and giving him toys, but he wouldn't let up._  
 _It seemed he only cried more and louder._  
 _"Come on"_  
 _She said in a irritated manner._  
 _He sobbed even louder._  
 _She yelled out_  
 _"Will you shut up!"_  
 _He stopped crying, giving her a confused and scared look._  
 _She gasped at herself, feeling awful for what she just did._  
 _She gently placed him back in his crib, placing her hand on her mouth to quiet her crying._  
 _She quickly left the room, going back to her seat on her bed._  
 _She couldn't even be a mother._  
 _She did no more thinking._  
 _She hastily grabbed the OxyCodon bottle, screwing the cap off._  
 _She stared at the pills, then the ceiling._  
 _The pills, then the ceiling._  
 _Her hand shook as the lid came in contact with her lips._  
 _As she placed multiple in her mouth, she began remembering everything._  
 _All the pain._  
 _All the hurt._  
 _"Your father isn't coming back Mellie."_  
 _"He left."_  
 _Her lip quivered as she took another five pills. She wiped her tear filled eyes as her memories tormented her._  
 _"Good god you're a beautiful women."_  
 _"No! Stop! No!"_  
 _Another gulp of pills, as she began to choke on the amount of content in her mouth._  
 _"We should name him Jerry!"_  
 _"Look at_ _ **our**_ _little boy!"_  
 _She sobbed as she finished the bottle._  
 _"Slut."_  
 _"Whore."_  
 _"Asset."_  
 _She slid onto the ground, her vision feeling slightly blurred._  
 _Using her last strength, she wobbled to the couch in Fitz's office, attempting to sit on it but missing and hitting the floor._  
 _Her eyelids grew heavy, and the whole world was nothing more than a splotch of color._  
 _She took deep breaths, turning her head to face the picture frames on Fitz's desk._  
 _There were two pictures: their wedding photo and a picture of when Jerry was born._  
 _As she everything went black, those photos, those memories were the last thing on her mind. With a smile on her face, she let consciousness go._  
 _Then she said goodbye._

 **Holy sh*t I didn't mean to make this so depressing. I just felt I needed a chapter to fill in little holes and clean things up. Also after this chapter, I doubt y'all would like Andrew. While he's not the main "villain", he certainly is not a likable character. And I figured after a season like season 5, Andrew shouldn't be a good character like I was writing him as.**  
 **Also, man Mellie just gets run over in this chapter :( I guess I kinda needed Mellie to really get pushed over the line and do the extreme of taking her life.**  
 **Fun fact of this chapter: this took the longest to write out of any of my chapters. This chapter took on many forms, like Andrew was actually going to rape Mellie! I changed it to attempted because I thought it would fit better to the plot, but if Mellie didn't mentally aggravate Andrew he probably would have went the full way D:**  
 **Anyways, thanks for reading! Y'all are so patient :D**


	18. Chapter 18

Fitz banged his fist loudly on the bedroom door. He was concerned for her; she had locked herself up in their room all day. He knew she was upset, but it had never been this extreme. She wouldn't even let Madeline into the room.  
As he looked down at the whimpering dog sitting at the door, he sighed gently  
"Mellie? Mellie please."  
She perked her head up, surprised at the sudden noise. But as she realized it was Fitz, she sunk her head back into her pillows. He laid his forehead against the door  
"Mellie I made fried chicken, your favorite."  
She didn't respond.  
He couldn't believe it. Somehow he always got through to her, but now she didn't even respond to her favorite food. The thought of her being so depressed broke his heart. He placed his hand softly against the door, almost as is he was reaching out to her  
"You probably wouldn't even like it, you know I can't cook for the life of me."  
He heard a soft chuckle from her. Something about that sound made him smile. It was a small smile, but it held as much value as Mellie's laugh.  
She spoke quietly, her voice quaking  
"You're talking! Do you remember how many times I've almost given you food poisoning?"  
He laughed loudly, and she with him. For another minute straight, that's all they did.  
Laugh.  
Eventually, they stopped. Once she remembered her state, she laid back down. In almost an instant, he could sense a mood change, so he thought fast  
"Mels?"  
A silence followed, until her soft voice filled his ears  
"Yes?"  
"I love you. God, I love you so damn much it hurts sometimes. I want you to know that. I want you to know you have and never will be alone, especially if I'm in your life. Don't ever feel like you need to keep anything from me. These past couple months have been so different from everything, but I know you're still holding back. Please, don't hold back anymore. You can tell me everything. You are my other half of my heart. And I know some therapist can't fix this. Only you trusting me can."  
She clutched her pillow tightly. She didn't know how to do it, how to say it. She had never imagined having to ever tell anyone, especially Fitz.  
But she wanted to fix them.  
She opened the door, letting both Fitz and Madeline in. She went to sit back down on and bed and Fitz did the same.  
He looked intently at her face, noticing how prominently troubled her eyes were.  
She began petting the dog's head, creating a pattern with her fingers. She wasn't sure what to say. Fitz cleared his throat  
"So, is there anything you want to talk about? Like, how you're feeling."  
She stared off into space.  
"Mellie, I know you're hurting. I see it in your eyes. I've seen it for almost two years. But now I'm actually going to help you."  
She turned roughly towards him  
"You know it wasn't hormones right? It wasn't me just going crazy. I...I..."  
He hugged her tightly, cradling her head in his chest  
"I don't think you're crazy. I just want you to tell me. Tell me...why."  
He felt her shaking. She sighed deeply, taking deep breaths. She didn't make any eye contact with him  
"It, it wasn't just an attitude change. I...I'm different now because...something happened to me."  
She couldn't see his face, but his eyes widened at her opening up. She continued, her eyes staring in a near comatose state  
"It was late one night. I wanted to talk to him. That's all I was there for, nothing more. I just wanted to...to fix everything."  
He was confused. Who was this he?  
She sniffled  
"We talked and he kept on going on and on and I just wanted to fix things and leave. Oh I just wanted to leave."  
He felt her stiffen in discomfort. Obviously it was bad. Obviously it was traumatizing. It must have been something so disturbing that she really did not want to say what it was. He whispered  
"It's okay Mellie, please, don't be afraid."  
She breathed shakily  
"After awhile he uh...he was looking at me...strangely. Actually after a little bit, I realized it was more than just strangely. It was like I was...prey. It's like all he saw was a piece of meat. He looked at me with this sense of dehumanization, and...and I felt so...helpless. It made me want to crawl out of my skin and hide. I just wanted to hide.  
Fitz felt sick to his stomach; he knew this was going somewhere awful.  
"He told me how...beautiful I was and I felt so uncomfortable. It just felt wrong having someone else telling me that. You were the only man I let say that to me. Because I knew it was genuine. I knew you told me I was beautiful to make me feel it, but when he did it, it was selfish. It felt like he only noticed it for...what other things I could give him. And that's what he wanted. Other things."  
She said the last sentence with such disgust that Fitz could feel her anger. He hugged her tighter as she began crying more  
"Fitz I...I don't know if I can...it's just..."  
He soothed her, kissing the top of her head and speaking softly to her  
"It's okay. It's okay. You don't need to continue."  
But Mellie was too stubborn to stop there. She knew she needed to finish. She needed to tell him the story she hated but thought about every night.  
But speaking it made it feel all the more vulgar.  
She sobbed as she forced the words out of her mouth  
"No Fitz I need to. He...he...grabbed me, and I swear to God I told him to stop. I...I tried to get away...I fought him Fitz I..."  
Fitz began tearing up. He tried to comfort her best he could, but he didn't realize he also needed comfort from the truth. She stuttered  
"I guess that wasn't enough...he asked me if I wanted him to stop...but I didn't say anything...I was so stupid...and it all happened so fast...he was...on top of me...I was pushing him...screaming at him. He wouldn't stop though...and then I just...froze."  
It seemed like they both held their breath  
"I couldn't move...I just...stopped and he continued...and I just kind of stared at the ceiling. It was so...horrible. I had never felt so betrayed by another person and by myself in all my life. "  
She took a deep yet very shaky breath in  
"It was until he finished that I...I had to comprehend that he...he...ra...he.."  
She kept saying on trying to say the words, but her mouth wouldn't let her. It was like all the pain she felt restricted this from happening. Even after almost two years the pain still felt fresh as ever.  
Fitz began crying with her. He tried to keep it in, but he couldn't. He cradled her and hugged her and told her it was going to be okay. She wouldn't stop sobbing though  
"I wanted to tell you for so long, but I was so scared. I'm sorry Fitz...I'm so sorry. I fought...I fought him...I fought him Fitz..."  
He whispered  
"Mellie. You don't need to apologize for anything. I'm the one that needs to do that. I'm so sorry Mels. I don't know how I didn't see it. I'm so sorry, I...I should have been there for you."  
They both embraced, sobbing in each other's arms.  
This was the first time in nearly two years that things felt like they were true again. There was no wall. No secrets.  
They were totally vulnerable again.  
Even so, there was one thing Fitz didn't know.  
Who did this?  
He whispered into her hair  
"Mels?"  
"Yeah?"  
"Can you tell me...who did this to you?"  
She moved out of his arms, crossing her arms  
"Fitz you don't understand..."  
"I'm sorry Mellie, I took it too far. I just wanted to..."  
"No it's...it's...god I don't know how to tell you this..."  
She got off the bed, pacing the floor. Fitz spoke in a worried manner  
"Mels, I'm sorry I didn't mean to make you upset."  
She stared out the window  
"Fitz, I'm so sorry."  
"What is it?"  
She stared back down at him, fear filling her eyes. Her lip quivered, and she could hardly speak  
"It...it was..."  
She wasn't sure she could tell him. Out of everyone, how could she tell him? After everything he's been though, all this was going to do was ruin everything. Not to mention, but what if he didn't believe her? What if she destroyed his relationship with his father? What if they both lost their jobs because Jerry ruined them?  
He grabbed her hands, pulling her so that she was kneeling on the bed.  
"Unless you don't want to, you can tell me. I will trust you in anything, because I love you."  
She continued shaking, disgusted that a human should ever need to say these words. These words were ones that she never wanted to speak, but needed to.  
Her lips formed the horrifying words, almost inaudible, as the waves of sound hit his ears as a knife would stab a heart. Her eyes spoke the pain in her soul, and she whispered the words that she wished weren't true  
"Your father raped me."

 **Finally! I've been mapping out this chapter for a looooooooong time. I know I dragged this out for a long time, but imagine how long this took for Mellie to reveal in the TV show. Two years is nothing compared to fifteen.**  
 **I also know that usually Fitz is the one that drags out the truth from Mellie, but I'd thought I would make it unique and have Mellie be more active in telling Fitz. She's honestly just supposed to be vulnerable and so done with hiding so boom! It's about time. As always, thank you so much for reading! :)))**


	19. Chapter 19

_"Your father raped me."_  
Those words rang in his head like a bell ring would from an inch away. He almost couldn't stay up. He almost couldn't breathe. The world stood still in that moment as they locked eyes.  
He didn't know what to say.  
He couldn't speak.  
He quickly jumped off the bed, his face in his hands as he paced the room. Mellie stared at him with a desperate expression on her face.  
He didn't look at her.  
He couldn't look at her.  
He had always told himself that if someone told him something like this, he would 100% be there for them. But at this moment, he wasn't sure what to do.  
His _father_.  
The man that created him.  
The man that raised him.  
The man that formed who he was today.  
It wasn't just that, but he treated Mellie better than him. He loved and cared about Mellie like his own daughter.  
He looked out the window, his face contorted in sorrow and denial.  
He heard her whimper  
"Fitz...please...please say something. Don't do this...don't leave me."  
He turned around  
"Mellie why...I would never do that."  
She could see the look in his eyes. She stared in horror at the ground, whispering half to herself  
"You...you don't believe me."  
He stuttered.  
She couldn't believe it; her worst fear was coming true. She never thought Jerry would be right but he was.  
Fitz didn't believe her.  
He gasped  
"Mels, of course I believe you. It's just so much to take in. I just could never imagine..."  
"I couldn't imagine either."  
He noticed the tone of pure disgust and disappointment in her dialogue.  
"When it happened I couldn't believe he was doing it to me. I thought...he cared about me."  
Fitz yelled out  
"I'm so sorry I wasn't there for you. I would never have let him hurt you."  
"It's not your fault. You were sleeping."  
His expression grew in its guilt. He was sleeping when his own wife got attacked by _his_ father.  
She grabbed his hand  
"It's not your fault. Please, don't feel bad about it. You did nothing wrong."  
His mouth was agape, his lip quivering.  
It was true.  
His _father_ raped his wife.  
As the thought fully set in, as his mind accepted the horrid truth, his face curled up in disgust, large tears dripping down his face as he whimpered  
"Oh...oh god. Mels...I'm so...I'm so sorry. I don't know how I didn't see this before...I would have protected you...from that monster.."  
She ran a gentle hand through his silky curls. She whispered  
"It's not your fault."  
She repeated that same sentence until it ran in his ears.  
 _It's not your fault._  
 _It's not your fault._  
 _It's not your fault._  
It is my fault.

The pair had been sitting on their bed for hours, just wrapped in each other's arms.  
The smell of Mellie's shampoo comforted him, and Fitz's warm arms soothed her.  
Fitz just wanted to stay here, forget about the pain, and forget the reality.  
But he couldn't.  
He needed to face the evils of the world head on.  
Fitz finally cleared his throat  
"So...what now?"  
Mellie stared blankly at their wedding picture  
"What do you mean?"  
"Well we can't just pretend this never happened."  
"That's exactly what we can do."  
Fitz sat up, staring concerned at Mellie.  
"We can't just...I can't just let him be around you and pretend everything's fine. He should pay for what he did to you!"  
Mellie looked into his eyes desperately  
"We both know that would be political suicide. I can't let you throw away everything because of my own problems."  
He took her hands  
"Mels, I don't give a shit about getting to the White House if it means you're unhappy. My family matters the most to me."  
"Isn't your father family?"  
He stuttered for a moment  
"I've let it seep in these past couple hours Mellie. My father is a twisted monster. Real family doesn't hurt each other. Especially like that. It's hard though, you know. To admit that part of you is truly that evil. That doesn't matter though; Mels, no matter what, you are my main priority. You are my _real_ family."  
He smiled at her. It was that same gentle and subtle smile, but it held more worth than anything he could possibly give her.  
This was Fitz.  
This was the man she fell in love with.  
He pulled her into a tight embrace, whispering gently into her hair  
"Don't worry, we will fix this."  
She mumbled softly  
"Together?"  
He chuckled lightly  
"Together."

She had never realized what this was going to feel like.  
Being free.  
She had been so scared, so conflicted with her secret. She didn't even know how she was able to find the strength to tell Fitz what his father did to her.  
But what now?  
She knew Fitz wasn't going to just ignore the problem, he always held grudges.  
She was starting to wish she never revealed to him the truth.

Jerry sat quietly in his office, as he wrote a thank you note to senator he had worked with. As soon as he sent it, he sighed  
"Fucking idiot."  
As he said that, he heard footsteps behind him. He turned around to see Fitz standing in the doorway. He blinked a few times, startled  
"Hello son. What brings you here at this time?"  
He stood there, a blank expression on his face. He still couldn't believe what his own father had done.  
Jerry's eyes darted back and forth in annoyance  
"Is something wrong?"  
Fitz felt the adrenaline burn in his veins, but he kept it cool.  
"Yeah, I just was...was wondering if I could have some drinks with you. I passed that big bill today."  
Jerry patted him hard on the back, smiling down at him  
"I've raised you right, let's drink to our hearts' content."  
He poured them both a class of scotch, sitting down on the leather couch.  
He clinked his glass against his son's  
"To a magnificent young man."  
Fitz smiled nervously. They both drank a gulp, but Fitz put his glass down.  
As the evening turned into night, Fitz kept on talking about his bill to distract Jerry, constantly pouring more and more liquor into his father's glass. Fitz wanted to remain as sober as possible, so he hardly touched his drink.  
Luckily, it didn't take long before Jerry was drunk, as he had had a long history of easily downing a mass amount of alcohol in a small period of time.  
As their conversation went on, they got on the topic of women. Jerry slurred out  
"Speaking of, where is Mellie. Did she not want to come?"  
"Uhh…yeah she was tired."  
He stared off into the fireplace  
"Yeah, your wife is sure a nice one."  
Fitz chuckled uncomfortably. He didn't even want to know what he said to Mellie when he was this intoxicated.  
Fitz's figure shook, as he realized what he was about to ask. His eyes became watery, and he turned quickly to face Jerry  
"Did you rape her?"  
Jerry looked frazzled, and Fitz breathed heavily  
"What?"  
"Did you rape her? Did you rape Mellie?"  
Jerry rolled his eyes, groaning in exasperation  
"My god, that whole thing."  
"What does that mean?"  
Fitz stared wide-eyed at his father, searching for answers. His father spoke as free as a bird when he was drunk.  
He chuckled, taking another sip of his drink  
"Ahh, I remember that night. It is a little blurry, but I can still very vaguely yet clearly see it."  
Fitz's stomach dropped  
"She came to me to talk about you. Well about us, because you were being a little bitch. And she wanted me to help."  
His eyes dropped to the ceiling  
"But damn, I remember thinking, she is so god damn hot. I wanted her, I hadn't desired something that strong in awhile but I wanted her."  
Fitz swallowed hard, trying with all his might to not throw up right there. He couldn't remember the last time he was this disgusted. To hear his own father talk this vile, especially about Mellie, was horrible.  
"I had to wait though, 'cause she was there for you. But I knew deep down inside what she needed, what she wanted. She was worth it though; I just knew she was worth it."  
Fitz placed his hand over his mouth, his eyes wandering about the room.  
"I can't remember what the fuck I said, but I remember sitting down next to her, and feeling that desire come back. She was there with me, alone, and I could do whatever the hell I wanted."  
He took another swig, this time straight from the bottle, his eyes in a drunken daze  
"She looked so pretty, so damn attractive. I always knew her looks would be the end of me someday, I told her, you know, I told her how beautiful I thought she was. She didn't really say much, so I wanted to move on further; to the things I had been wanting for the entire conversation."  
He glanced at his father for a moment, too horrified to even look at him directly  
"So I think I grabbed her, and she smelled so nice and flowery and I don't know why, but she kept on pushing me away. It didn't matter though; it was easy as hell to keep her where I wanted her."  
Fitz scrunched his nose  
"Well I asked her if she wanted me to stop. But you know what? She didn't say she did, because if she wanted me to, she would have answered me when I asked."  
He paused for a moment  
"So I went on. I can't really remember all that much from it. It was all so fast. I guess I was on top of her, and she was pretty still. She was a little stubborn at first, but obviously she changed her mind considering she wasn't fighting me back."  
Fitz was holding his bile in his throat. Hearing Mellie's point of view was heart wrenching, but his father's point of view was plain repulsive.  
Jerry sat back  
"So yeah, I had sex with her. And I can see why you like her. Some of the best I think I've ever had. And if she said anything else, well, it's not like you'd believe her over me, right?"  
Fitz stood up, staring down at his father, as he held back tears  
"You...you are revolting. You don't deserve to be near or in my family. You're a fucking rapist Dad. You raped my wife. Your son's wife. And you seem to think that's alright? That everything is okay?"  
Jerry stood up, looking into Fitz's eyes, carelessly  
"You're just mad because your wife wanted me. Can't fix that sweetie. I fucked her and she liked it. I gave it to her hard..."  
He spoke lower as he stepped nose to nose with Fitz  
"...until she cried."  
Fitz couldn't hold it in anymore. He put as much force as he could into his arm, his fist aiming directly towards his father's face.  
Unfortunately, Fitz missed, and Jerry grabbed his wrist, holding it in place. Fitz's eyes welled up with tears, as he was sure his wrist was about to be broken.  
Jerry stared at him, almost with a look of disappointment  
"You have so much potential. But then you act like an idiot."  
He finally released him, and Fitz dropped to the ground, clutching his wrist.  
He abruptly turned his head toward his father, yelling out  
"That doesn't stop the fact from what you did. I know what you did. You _raped_ my wife!"  
Jerry rolled his eyes, walking over his son's body on the ground  
"Call it rape, call it sex. It doesn't matter to me. I got what I wanted either way."  
He walked out of the room, leaving Fitz wanting to scream.  
As he slowly got up, the hatred that was burning in his heart was heated, and he wanted so badly to take a gun and shoot his father right in the head.  
But he wasn't a killer. No matter what, he couldn't find himself to kill anyone in person, even someone like his father.  
He refused to let Jerry walk free though.  
He wanted him to rot. He didn't care about all his father did for him. As far as he knew, Jerry was probably only doing anything for him so he could one day better himself.  
His father didn't care about anyone but himself, so why should Fitz care about him?  
That man was going to pay like hell.

 **...**

 **Omg how's it going guys! I'm sorry I haven't updated in literally ages. I've been really busy with school and finals. Finally found some time to finish this chapter though. It genuinely made me uncomfortable writing Jerry's point of view, but its kinda fun to write such a dark and sadistic character. I know it also seems like Fitz is a bit of a jerk for not believing Mellie at first, but like, imagine if someone told you their father raped them. That'd be pretty hard to take in eh? Anyways, thanks as always for reading, have an awesome day/night! :) PS I just realized this Fitz/ Jerry confrontation is very similar to the Mellie/Jerry confrontation in I think was in chapter 15.**


	20. Chapter 20

**Trigger Warning**

Mellie sat in silence, reading a book. As she put the book down, she sighed in disappointment. She wasn't a book reader kind of girl. In school, reading wasn't her thing. Well, unless it was history, economics, or politics. But other than that, fictional or even non-fictional stories bore her. It wasn't fast paced enough. Or, at least it wasn't because she wasn't a part of it. With the subjects she liked, she knew she would one day be a part of them. Politics was fast and quick witted, and being able to prove your argument correct was always so appealing to her.  
But here she was, reading.  
She stared at the shining cover of the book, and sighed again.  
What had she become? She knew her wonderful and handsome husband was off at work, winning the bread and fame for the family.  
She had a career of her own, a life of her own. But she was here.  
Reading.  
She threw the book down, disappointed with how fragile and dependent she had become. She had seen so many things about how rape victims needed to take it easy and heal.  
That was too hard for her though. Her coping mechanism, since she was ten years old, was to work.  
To ignore.  
That's what she did directly after the assault. She worked in Fitz's campaign and never had to think about it.  
It was when she was alone and workless that she started to feel it, to see it again.  
That's what happened when she read. She would read every word and only connect it back to that night with Jerry. With the campaign work, it was just pounding it out.  
No breaks to feel something.  
She turned to lie on her back, pondering as she stared at the smooth grey ceiling.  
She was done with being the victim.  
She was ready to be Mellie again.  
...

As Mellie felt her eyelids about to drop closed with her tiredness weighing them down, the phone rang.  
She groaned as she picked it up  
"Hello?"  
"Hey Mels, its Fitz, just wanted to see how you were?"  
She questioned at his anxious tone  
"I'm fine. Is everything alright?"  
There was a small fit of silence. She could hear him sigh over the line  
"Well...I kind of went to see my father, and talk to him."  
Mellie yelled angrily  
"Fitz! What did you say to him?"  
"Nothing! I mean, he was drunk so it doesn't matter."  
Mellie sighed loudly  
"Fitz, you don't understand. If he remembers this, I don't even want to do think about it."  
Fitz spoke worryingly  
"What...what do you mean?"  
She hesitated. Sure, she had been open with him, but telling him this would just add fuel to the fire. She replied reluctantly  
"He...he said if I told anyone what really happened...he would do it again. I can't Fitz, I can't survive going through that again."  
She could feel the anger through the phone. She was worried he had hung up, but he spoke again, much smoother than before  
"Well this time, I will kill that bastard on sight. That won't happen though. I have evidence."  
Mellie's head perked up  
"What...how, that's not possible. It was almost two years ago. There was hardly any from the get go."  
"It's nothing from the actual incident. I recorded him when he talked about that night. I sent it over an hour ago so it shouldn't take to long to get there."  
Mellie ran outside, quickly opening the mail box to a small recorder. She honestly didn't want to hear this, but she needed to.  
She _needed_ to.  
"Hold on the line for a moment."  
She slowly put some headphones on, and then played the recording  
" _She was there with me, alone, and I could do whatever the hell I wanted_."  
" _Well I asked her if she wanted me to stop. But you know what? She didn't say she did. Because if she wanted me to, she would have answered me when I asked_."  
" _Call it rape, call it sex. It doesn't matter to me. I got what I wanted either way_."  
She felt sick as she finished the recording. She knew Jerry was a vile man, if she could even call him that, but hearing him say that added a new level of disgust she had for him.  
She put the phone back to her ear. Fitz noticed her silence  
"Are you alright?"  
She rubbed her forehead  
"We can't use it.  
"What?"  
"There are three reasons. One, that recording was taken without his consent. It wouldn't hold in court as legal evidence. Two, he was intoxicated. That could easily be a good defense to what he said. Lastly, I never heard him actually say he raped me. Yeah he got very close, but he never admitted to the crime."  
She could hear Fitz's sigh, and could tell he was near tears  
"I'm sorry Fitz. You really tried. I appreciate that. But maybe..."  
He replied aggressively  
"Maybe what?"  
"Maybe we should let it go. This won't do us any good. Jerry would have us easily destroyed. We could lose everything. So let's just...move on."  
"Mellie, I can't let him just walk off without any sort of punishment. I won't let that happen. I would kill him before..."  
"Good bye Fitz."  
"Mellie he..."  
"Goodbye!"  
She hung the phone up, feeling tears well up, as she fell onto her back.  
She would rather live in pain than have to face in a court of law, for the world to know, what happened to her.  
She looked back at the shiny cover of the book she was reading earlier, staring at her own reflection.  
Book reader.  
She started a successful career and dealt with plenty of sexism and challenges and still stood tall.  
She didn't sit around and cry.  
She started a family and survived a suicide attempt, not to mention she was a rape survivor.  
She didn't let the world decide for her how she was going to live her life.  
She jumped off the bed, grabbing her coat, zipping up her boots, and twisted her hair into a bun.  
She grabbed the keys, walking down the steps in front of the front door.  
She is Melody Grant.  
She writes her own story.  
...

She quickly got a car to drive her to Santa Barbara, which took six hours but the long drive was worth it. She hoped Fitz wouldn't be mad that she was gone and he didn't know where she was.  
When the car finally reached her destination, she slowly stepped out.  
That house.  
That horrid house.  
Jerry's house.  
She swallowed hard, walking cautiously towards the building. For a house designed for happy families and parties, it only gave her an eerie vibe.  
As she was getting closer to the house, she heard someone yell out  
"Hey, Mr. Grant didn't say he didn't want to see any else tonight."  
'Damn it I forgot about the gate guard.'  
She turned towards him, a smile on her face as she walked smoothly over to him  
"Hey Tim. It's just me Mellie. I'm sure we can work things out."  
His steel facade was slightly breaking. She leaned in closer to give him a kiss on the cheek  
"Just for me, this once?"  
She was drawing out as much as her old perky personality as she could. He finally smiled, opening the gate up. She skipped off, waving at him  
"Thanks Timmy!"  
As soon as he was out of site, she returned to her stiff and calculated side, walking in a focused manner.  
She made it to the door, realizing it was locked.  
"Shit."  
She knew how to pick locks like it was second nature, but Jerry had one of those stupid expensive automatic locks for all his doors. She wasn't sure why but he did.  
She thought for a moment.  
Then a memory returned to her.  
Back when her and Fitz first got married, they would go outside and look at the stars together, but because of the automatic locks they would always leave the key to the window on the sill.  
She had to refresh her memory to how she got up.  
First she stood on the couch on the patio, and then she jumped up to grip the edge of the roofing over it. She then gripped onto the window sill, pulling herself up and sitting on it.  
God she hadn't done that in so long.  
She began searching the sill for a key, as she didn't bring anything to pick a lock with.  
'Come on.'  
Just as she was about to lose hope, she felt the cool touch of metal in a slight indent of the cement. She immediately unlocked the window, almost falling onto the floor inside the bedroom.  
She looked around, feeling almost sick as memories came back to her. They had so many sensual nights here, but she also spent many sleepless and lonely nights in the same room. So many nights where her nightmares only got worse.  
She got up from the floor, opening the door to get out of the room. She peeked her head around; making sure no one was there. She then proceeded to quickly yet very quietly walk down the halls, attempting to ignore the negative memories resurfacing.  
She hated this place with a fiery passion.  
She went to the best of her abilities to remember how to navigate around the house, but the mansion was huge.  
Eventually, however, she found the staircase, walked down it, and it led directly to Jerry's den.  
She gulped, almost fearful as she walked in; her whole body was shaking.  
She hadn't step foot in here since the night she was assaulted.  
She took small steps, trying to ignore the panic rising in her.  
Instead, she began madly searching through the room, unsure what she was actually looking for. She needed something to prove that night.  
She needed to prove Jerry raped her.  
Just as she was on the verge of a breakdown, she felt someone's presence behind her.  
She stopped dead in her tracks.  
She knew it was him.  
"Well I'm not sure why you're here, Fitz just left."  
She turned to face Jerry, a nervous smile on her face  
"Well I know it's just..."  
"Why are you searching through my stuff?"  
She tried to keep cool as he stepped forward, his significantly taller stance casting a shadow over her entire body. She dodged any eye contact. She stuttered, looking around  
"I thought I left something here."  
He eyed her suspiciously  
"You came all the way down here for that? And you never go in this room anyways."  
"Well I thought I'd try."  
She took a stride forward, making her way towards the door.  
As she went to open the door, his hand held it shut. Her eyes widened in fear, and she didn't turn to face him  
"Wh...what are you doing?"  
His hand made its way to her back, wrapping it around her small waist and forcing her to face him. He smiled at her.  
That horrible grin.  
"Well you didn't think we could just talk and not have a little fun, did you?"  
She was trying hard to not stutter  
"I...I need to get home J..Jerry."  
She tried pushing him away, but he only pulled her closer  
"Right here Mels. You like that right? When I call you Mels? Doesn't my son call you that? The same stupid son who can't even get it up enough for his stubborn but still deviously beautiful wife?"  
His fingers ran through her smooth locks, then roughly making their way to her neck, wrapping them around tight enough for it to become slightly harder to breath.  
"Don't you like it? Rough? Or did Fitz fuck you as pathetically as I expected him to? I guess you don't know what it's like because when I gave it to you hard you go around telling my idiotic child that I raped you."  
She whimpered, terrified by the evil in his eyes. He pushed her against the door, his fingers now forcibly running down her chest to the button on her jeans. She pushed her hips forward, trying her best to shove him off of her. She desperately wanted to scream, but the pressure that his hand was putting on her windpipe made it almost impossible to even breathe.  
He smirked as he saw her failed attempts to escape, and he placed his lips on the softness of her neck, running his hand down her face as he did so.  
She responded by spitting on his face.  
He wiped it off, smiling at her  
"Well look who got a little fight in her? Whatever, I think you're just making me want you more sweetheart."  
She struggled as hard as possible to push him away, but he retaliated by forcing her head onto the hard surface of the door  
"Let me show you how rough I can really get princess."  
He attempted to pull her pants down, but her instincts kicked in and she slammed her knee as hard as possible into his groin.  
He let out a pained grunt and took a step back, letting her go.  
She was too angry though, and her adrenaline was too high just to leave. She yelled out as loudly as possible  
"What the hell is wrong with you?"  
He glared at her, regaining his composure  
"You're a little bitch aren't you?"  
She could see the mixture of irritation and hunger in his eyes, but this time she refused to be scared.  
She stood as tall as she could, and walked as close to him as possible  
"Fine, maybe I am. Maybe it's because I'm not here to be some sex toy for you whenever you're mad at your fucking son. I'm here because I want you to rot in hell for all the shit you have put me through."  
He looked surprised as she began causing him to walk backwards. She couldn't stop talking. She wasn't done with letting her rage out  
"I am not a whore or an asset or a bitch or whatever you want to call me. I am a human being. I know you don't want to think that because you'd rather just force me to have sex with you. But that's true. And yes, as a human being I have feelings; I have a soul, not that I would expect you to know. Which means that consequences follow when I'm hurt. And for that, I will drag you down with me."  
He raised an eyebrow, still confused as to what she meant.  
She handed him a paper, and turned away from him. He stared at her, than putting his attention to the document that was in his hand. He looked up in shock  
"You're pressing charges against me?"  
She continued to walk away. He tried his best to not sound distressed, but his voice easily portrayed his nervousness  
"You have no proof. You'll only drag us both down."  
She proceeded to ignore him  
"You'll ruin both of us, mine and your political careers and our lives!"  
She finally turned to look at him, a glare of determination in her eyes  
"Then I'll guess I'll meet you in hell." 

**Dammmmmmn my girl Mellie is slaying! This chapter took soooo long to write because there was so many different scenes. Not to mention I actually wanted Mellie to be accurate to the TV show. I've read so many fanfics where Mellie is just treated and acts like a timid victim, and yes while she is still healing, she's always gonna be that sassy, outspoken, takes no crap from anyone kind of women. Well I hope y'all enjoyed this chapter and thanks, as always, for continuing to read!** ❤️


	21. Chapter 21

Jerry paced in his office, holding the piece of paper that Mellie gave him. He roughly ran his hand through his hair  
"I can't believe it. She's actually doing this to me! I thought Mellie was smart!"  
Cyrus sat on the couch, staring blankly at Jerry as he continued his tirade  
"I'm a senator. A damn good one at that! I'm not a rapist."  
The statement felt more like a question at this point. He was saying it to convince himself.  
Cyrus cleared his throat  
"Well we need to get one thing out of the way before we go to another. First of all, did you actually sleep with Mellie?"  
Jerry turned to him, feeling a little uncomfortable admitting that he sleep with his son's wife. Cyrus has a look on his face that shows he expected his answer to be a quick no, and that this whole thing wasn't true so that he could move one.  
Jerry sighed deeply  
"Yes."  
Cyrus's expression was now one of slight disturbance and irritation, and he placed his fingertips in the furrow of his brow  
"Jerry are you kidding me? You're not serious right? I can understand if you fucked some random hooker but you went for your daughter-in-law? Seriously!"  
Jerry rolled his eyes, not giving a damn about what Cyrus had to say. A loud sigh emitted from Cyrus's throat  
"Okay. When was this? Why was this?"  
He thought for a moment  
"It was like...almost two years ago, the night that you first met Mellie and Fitz. I was drinking a shit ton and Fitz was sleeping, and we were by ourselves.  
Cyrus rolled his eyes  
"So what, you thought it was a decent idea to have sex with her while your son was in the same house?"  
He ran a frustrated hand through his hair  
"I wasn't thinking alright!"  
Cyrus thought for a moment, not knowing how to deal with a problem so strange  
"Okay. I will contact her and ask her to speak to us before this goes public. Maybe I can convince her to change her mind."

Mellie walked into the building alone, having gone when Fitz was at the capital so he wouldn't worry and go with her.  
As she turned into the room, she nearly jumped when she saw Jerry there.  
She wanted to run, but she kept a straight face and walked in. She spoke through clenched teeth  
"What are you doing here?"  
Jerry looked up at the young woman  
"Look Mellie just sit..."  
"No."  
She turned to Cyrus, glaring harshly at him  
"You didn't tell me he was here."  
Cyrus sat up, folding his hands in his lap  
"Look Mellie, I don't understand why you are doing this, but we both know this is political suicide for your whole family."  
She scrunched her nose, placing the top of her teeth on her bottom lip  
"Do you know what he did to me?"  
"I was told that what happened was you two had sex during the campaign."  
She turned with pure disgust towards Jerry, breathing heavily in an attempt to remain calm  
"Sex? The hell you've been telling him Jerry?"  
She turned towards Cyrus  
"Let me guess, he left out the screaming and the crying and the half a dozen times I fucking said no."  
He was taken back with surprise, moving his direction towards Jerry who was visibly irked.  
"Look Mellie I don't want to take you to court. I'm sorry if I hurt you but I didn't see it the way you did..."  
He cut himself off, as he was aware that she was glaring at him with such hatred that it made his spine tingle, her fists clenched so tightly that the shade of them was slightly red.  
Cyrus intervened before Mellie could leap at Jerry  
"Mellie, either way we're done for if you come out. Do you really want to sacrifice all of that for this? You two don't ever need to speak again and your lives could continue the same."  
Her whole body was tense with rage.  
She needed to see him rot, to have his life destroyed the way he destroyed hers.  
But Cyrus was right.  
If she went with this, everything she'd built would break.  
Cyrus shook his head, already regretting getting mixed up with this dysfunctional family. He got up to leave.  
Mellie spoke out in a scared tone  
"Where are you going?"  
He looked down  
"This is for you to decide, not me."  
She was both frightened and furious. Cyrus didn't understand that Jerry actually raped her, and that he was leaving her with him.  
A few minutes passed. Mellie had her arms crossed over her chest, staring at the ground.  
Jerry had his eyes set on her.  
 _This girl has caused me too much trouble._  
He took in her uncomfortable facade, and as she placed her nails on her lips the same way she always did when she was thinking.  
"Melody."  
She ignored him, but she did slightly jolt at her formal name. She kept her eyes facing the door, even when she saw from her peripheral vision that he had stood up.  
"Look, I know sometimes when I drink too much, I'm not my best self..."  
She continued to stare into space  
"...but you need to understand what happened can stay in the past."  
She finally turned to him, her profile stiff and yet furious  
"So what? Do I just have to hope and pray I'm not around you when you're drunk? You scare me Jerry, sober or not. I never know if you're going to do what you did again."  
"Mellie that was two years ago."  
"What about the other night, huh? When you slammed me against a door and tried to do it again."  
She pointed to the small bruises on her neck.  
"I hate you Jerry. God I hate you so much. I despise you to the point that I am willing to go down with you if it means I at least tried to make you suffer."  
"You're not stupid Mellie. You're far from it. You're beautiful and have the brains of a genius. Those are two assets together are so rare in a person, and with you, you guys have the White House in the bag."  
"Flattery isn't going to work Jerry."  
He bit his lip, rolling his eyes as he did so  
"I don't want to see your life ruined, but that is precisely what will happen if you go to court. I'm being honest, and you are smart enough to understand that I'm right."  
She lifted her face to meet his own  
"All I've ever wanted to do, since I was a little girl, was to change the world, to make it a wonderful place where everyone was safe and happy..."  
Her eyes were full of tears, but she refused to cry.  
His eyes were cold and dry, emotionally deficient like his heart.  
"...But I can't Jerry."

As she was getting ready for bed, Fitz noticed how conflicted his wife was. He walked up to her, placing his hands on her shoulders, causing her to slightly jolt  
"Are you alright? You've seemed more down than usual."  
Mellie jumped out of her trance, placing her hand on his and leaned her head on it  
"I'm just stressed, and a little tired. Fitz, I don't think we should follow through with pressing charges."  
He turned her body so she was facing him, allowing her to see his shocked expression  
"Mellie, he needs to be punished for what he did to you. Not to mention, maybe even for what he's done to other women."  
"I know but, I don't want to give up everything we've worked so hard on for something I can ignore. I don't think I can look a court in the eye and let the whole world know what happened to me. Oh, God I don't think..."  
Fitz put his hand on he face, softening his facade  
"This is completely your choice, you can take as long as possible. But I want you to know that I am here to support you, and am willing to give up anything if it means he pays for all evil he's done."  
She smiled slightly, leaning in to kiss him  
"Thank you Fitz. We should get to sleep though, and maybe I can think it over."  
He placed his lips on her forehead, running his hand through her silky waves.  
"I love you."  
"I love you too."

A few hours later, and Fitz was fast asleep while Mellie lay awake, haunted by the memories of her past.  
She picked at the loose strings on the bed sheet, doing her best to not hear her dream in her head as it played over and over again.  
 _The sound in her ear. The sound that was making her sick and making her lose her faith in human kind. Every grunt and moan he made in her ear made another piece of her soul die. To know that he got off on her pain, that it seemed the sound in her ear got louder and more frequent every time she whimpered._  
 _She could never understand how the stinging suffering in between her legs could make anyone feel pleasure. Jerry could though. She couldn't understand how. How he could pant and groan with such enjoyment without realizing the trauma and pain he was inflicting on the person he was forcing to make him feel good._  
 _Maybe he didn't even know she was a human. Maybe he didn't care to believe that. Maybe he didn't pay attention to what it was he had underneath him that he was forcing himself into._  
 _She could count, every corner of the wall, two seconds between each corner. When she almost made it to one hundred corners, the sound in her ear hitched shakily, and he was done with her. Done._  
 _He was done. His quarter of an hour was done, but the scarring in her was not._  
 _She would carry the pain for a lifetime._  
That's what truly haunts her.  
That's what keeps her up at night and makes her contemplate every decision she makes.  
Knowing there are more men like him that even if she put him in prison, somewhere, at that time, a girl is going through the same thing.  
Every day.  
 **Hey y'all I've missed this story. Is anyone still reading? If you are, you are incredible for waiting and caring. I keep on re doing a lot of different parts of this chapter, and reading it more out loud to make sure the dialogue actually sounds smooth and something real adults would say. Not to mention, I'm taking APs and those are sooooo much work. Thanks for reading as always, peace out!**


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